


Love Knows No Limits

by Celli2404



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Abuse, Abused Harry Potter, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bottom Harry Potter, But fluff too!, Dark Arts, Dom/sub Undertones, Emotional Manipulation, Eventual Master of Death Harry Potter, Existing Beta Reader, First Time, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Loss of Control, Loss of Faith, M/M, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Mind Manipulation, Morally Grey Harry Potter, Orphans, Other, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Tom Riddle, Powerful Harry Potter, Praise Kink, Sassy Harry Potter, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, Slytherins Being Slytherins, Smart Harry Potter, So muuuuch angst, Time Travel, Top Tom Riddle, Touch-Starved Harry Potter, Underage Sex, War with Grindelwald, Women Being Awesome, World War II
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:08:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25404391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celli2404/pseuds/Celli2404
Summary: Sent back in time, Hadrian Evans (also known as Harry James Potter) tries to find the reason why he was in 1944.World war II was raging, Grindelwald was starting to attack Britain and Harry finds himself in the middle between the people he thought of as enemies...but you can't judge someone on actions they haven't done yet and most importantly we do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them and sometimes an enemy can become our greatest friend.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle
Comments: 33
Kudos: 336





	1. The beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys so this is my first fanfiction and I hope you like it, I'm sorry for grammar mistakes I always try to read my texts over but if you find any mistakes just let me know, thank you :)  
> The chapters are going to be longer and now, have fun reading!  
> I love @DebsTheSlytherinSnapeFan's story ' Lord of time' and it motivated me to write a fanfiction.  
> Some chapters actually inspired me a lot.  
> So a big thanks to her/him :)

_Date: Unclear - Month: September - Year: 1944_

The rain seemed to have come from nothing at all.  
  
Raindrops were crashing down on his injured body, thunder crackling overhead.  
  
He wasn’t quite sure what had awoken him.  
Perhaps it was the sudden coldness around him.  
Or maybe it was the feeling of something painfully clicking into place as it wedged deep into his very being digging until it met his magical core becoming one with it.  
  
Dark green eyes opened half laden and dazed.  
  
'Just what in the name of Morgana had happened?' Harry thought as he felt his throat aching, a stinging sensation working it's way through it as if someone had cut it open.  
Pain was concise in his head, throbbing and squeezing like it would explode under the pressure of thoughts.  
  
His eyes were starting to sting and he could feel his lungs tightening, pain cutting through his skin and making him feel even more dizzy but the same pain suddenly disappeared again, his lungs arching as he gasped for breath, disturbing the darkness around him which has been filled with the soft noise of rain falling on the dirty and cool ground he was laying on.  
  
The clearer Harry's head got, the more he realized that it wasn't really smart to lay on a cool ground while it was raining upon him.  
He knew that he needed to move, especially as it clearly was night and he didn't know where he was.  
  
Harry could feel how an anxious shiver was starting to creep up his spine, making him tense his body which arched painfully under the injuries on it.  
A painful groan erupted from his dry lips, squinting his eyes as he forced himself to turn around, his body flinching violent under the pressure he put on his burn-wounds which were covering his right thigh. Seconds later a tortured sound filled the silence (except the rain) around him again as he finally managed to stand... barely but he did.  
  
Harry was immediately slumping against the tree next to him, too weak to hold his own light weight as his eyes trailed sharply around.  
The glasses on his nose broken and dirty but he still managed to see through them and that was enough for him, especially since he was expecting to get attacked any moment.  
His right hand immediately moved to his black wand holster, his dirty fingers, stiff from cold, were tightly gripping his beloved phoenix wand.  
  
Harry didn't understand where he was but apart from that, he had a much bigger problem, because how the fuck was he even still alive...bad injured and weak but still breathing, so he would count himself to be 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 alive.

Harry's whole body tensed as he suddenly heard footsteps, his breath quicken as he tried to find the source of the noise.  
He leaned more against the tree, his body painfully stiff even though he just wanted to lay down again.  
  
His eyes flickered quickly over the darkness around him, listening attentively as the steps draw closer, something cracked under the feet's of the stranger.  
  
'Probably a branch' he thought, dismissing the hiss which wanted to escape his throat at the pounding against his temples.  
Harry already knew that it could only be one person and even though he was injured he would fight for his life.  
Just as the young boy gritted his teeth with determination someone stepped through Vail of darkness and even though Harry could only see a shadow he hold his wand up in a threatening way, glad that the other person couldn't see his, from exhaustion shaking hand.  
  
His emerald eyes roaming over the figure which moved closer, cracking and rustling noises filling the peaceful night and Harry let a warning hiss out.  
The noises stopped immediately and Harry pressed himself more against the tree, ignoring the small pieces of bark which made him want to scratch violently over his already irritated neck skin.  
  
Even though his eyes had been fixed on the dark shadow, maybe two meters far away, he hadn't paid enough attention as he heard a whisper and then suddenly piercing light which made him close his eyes immediately.  
He grimaced and a pitfull noise left his bruised lips as he pressed his shaking hands to his eyes, the feeling of dizziness rushing back and crushing down on him, the adrenaline which had rushed through his veins only seconds before had disappeared and he got painfully aware that he was not only blinded at the moment but completely powerless without the possible to think a straight thought.

"Who are you" 

It wasn't really loud, but Harry could hear that the voice definitely belonged to a male, it was soft but still sharp like the person wanted to make clear that he shouldn't try anything funny.  
He didn't answer but it didn't seem to surprises the other person, who merely moved the blinding light away from Harry's face.

Emerald eyes immediately opened, his head hurting from the sudden light change but he couldn't seem to make himself care about it as he stared at the features from a familiar face.  
His eyes widened surprised before he let a loud gasp out, it sounded wrong in his ears like he was choking and in the same second trying to get more oxygen in his lungs.

It wasn't possible that the other boy was alive!

Harry didn't notice the calculating gaze from those brown eyes, but he did notice the sneere on the other boys face.  
They seemed to be around the same age and that could only mean one thing and it made him nervous as hell. 

"I asked who you are" the deep voice again, the same voice which had haunted his nightmares since he was a kid, the same voice which had brought him more pain than anything in the world, the very same voice which he has hoped to never hear again. 

"I-" His voice was weak barely louder than the rain, raspy like he hasn't drunk anything in weeks and Harry must admit his lungs hurt so bad he couldn't make himself try to speak again.  
The boy...or more his long fought enemy in front of him barely raised his perfectly shaped eyebrows at him, mocking him silently and Harry couldn't help but feel desire to punch the Slytherin-boy across his face. 

Harry felt suspicious as the other boy stepped closer while letting a long suffering sigh out as if it was Harry's fault that he was here in the first place.  
Even though he was exhausted and his body had never hurt like that before he wouldn't trust a complete stranger...well he knew who the other boy was but that didn't mean that Harry had the need to hand over his life once again to Voldemort, especially not after Harry had mysteriously come back to life again.

The cool rain wasn't really helping to stop his body from shaking though and his from water soaked clothes were hanging on his body, making it even harder for him to stay on his two legs. 

"Come" the boy in front of him said, crossing the last few inches which were between them and moved his left arm to grab Harry by his shoulder...or he tried to as Harry instinctively flinched away, his shoulders pressing hard against the tree and a pitying whimper escaped from his lips.  
Maybe it wasn't the best reaction to have but it seemed like the Slytherin-boy in front of him froze up, the hand which had made Harry's heart pound in panic, disappeared from his view and he could have sworn he saw a flash of understanding on the other boys features, but it was dark and Harry wasn't in his right mind at the moment so he quickly dismissed the thought.  
It helped that after he blinked the other boy was looking calculating and with a cool gaze down on him again as if he was annoyed at Harry. 

Then suddenly as if Riddle had forgotten the past moment a hand curled itself rather tight around his upper right arm and Harry bite harshly down on his lip as he felt the other boy dragging him along, his eyes started to sting as he felt his whole body tense.

_A big hand gripped his arm tightly, squeezing the thin flesh so hard Harry felt like it would go limb any second, but before he could try to fight the grip he got pushed violently against the wall and everything went black as his head hit the stone wall with a loud noise._

He immediately tried to think of something else as he felt his heartbeat quicken at the flashback which burned it's way into his mind, his throat arched as he felt something crawling up his lungs and he quickly swallowed the upcoming food, disgusted by how much such a little memory triggered his body. 

Just as he finally seemed to calm down he looked up again at the other boy as he heard the intake of breath, knowing the student in front of him would say something.  
His back automatically straightened even though he had to bite hard down again on his tongue to stop the hiss which had threatened to slip out at the movement, but the pain he felt was nothing to the burning hatred which was flaring up inside him, crushing every empathy he had felt for the help (if you could even call it help) from the other boy...no not just any boy, Tom Marvolo Riddle!  
He knew his eyes were gleaming darkly, hatred clearly written on his features and he swore he wanted to punch- no kill the other one, but he was to exhausted to even breath normally so he would have to wait with that (as much as it pained Harry to admit).

"Hadrian" he then said with venom in his voice which clearly told Riddle that he wasn't in the mood to talk, proud flashing through his system as he finally has spoken without sounding like he was dying.  
He pulled rather harshly away from the unwanted touch in form of Riddle's hand as they arrived in the painfully familiar hospital wing, not carrying that it probably was a bad idea to act so full of hatred in front of someone who didn't know him, but he couldn't think clear...not right now.

He let himself fell on the first bed without thinking and regretted it seconds later as he groaned quietly at the pain which shout through his body.  
Harry managed to narrow his eyes through the pain, showing the teenager version of Voldemort just how unwelcome he was here, but it didn't seem to care Riddle in the slightest, who was acting all charming, even smiling at him as if Harry hadn't snarled at him seconds ago, the urge to vomit on the Slytherin's shoes really was appealing to Harry.


	2. Hospital wing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning : mention of abuse

POV Tom Marvolo Riddle

Tom was surprised to see the reaction he got to his introduction, it was almost as if the boy knew his name already or had at least heard of it. It wasn't like he cared if the other boy liked him or not but he knew that as Perfect he had the responsibility to help students or in general people as he must be a good role model.

Perhaps that was what confused him the most, there wasn’t anyone who didn’t like him at Hogwarts.  
He had been as charming as he could be, not that the other boy seemed to know what charming meant...or being polite to strangers.

The way the boy, Hadrian, introduced himself told Tom that he didn’t wish to talk and he would respect that even though he would have to make clear that no one talked to him in such a way.

But he did prefer the silence and Hadrian had said what Tom had wanted the know the whole time, so he dismissed the violent thought of slamming the boy's head against the next wall.

Tom had of course noticed the lack of the other ones Surname and he couldn't help but feel suspicion growing inside his abdomen as he took in the other boys dirty face, he definitely didn't know the boy who suddenly stopped in front of the heavy door.

Tom merely raised his right brow as he watched the other boy turn to him, the hatred in Hadrian's eyes flaming up.

'How curious'

He thought as he scanned the other ones face with an almost boring gaze and he just wanted to ask why they stopped as he felt a harsh tug on his right arm.

It was rather hard for him to not let his fury show through as Hadrian ripped himself out of his grip, making Tom clench his jaw hard but nothing than a barely visible twitch of his right eye showed the short lose of temper, before he decided to follow the boy, who had already scrambled inside the Hospital wing as if Tom would kill him any second.

He sat down on a chair next to the bed the other boy had downright jumped on, after he had not so quietly closed the door, knowing Madam Evelyn would look for the noise and find them. Dismissing the smirk he choose to smile at the green eyed boy in front of him, tapping his fingers lightly on the arm rest of the chair as he waited for Madam Evelyn to come.

Tom had far better things to do than sit next to a rude, injured teenager even though he couldn't help but feel a small amount of curiosity as he watched the other boy through cool brown eyes.

'Just who was this Hadrian?'

_____________________________________

POV Hadrian (Harry) James Potter

Harry tried to not scowl as he felt those brown eyes on his form, moving his attention to the approving mediwitch, who definitely didn't seem to be a familiar from Madam Pomfrey.

He couldn't help but shrink more into the white sheets as she moved closer, his eyes roamed quickly over her.

She seemed to have the same body figure as Madam pomfrey, a little on the heavier side but she wore her hair in a pretty style, wavy strands framing her high cheekbones and Harry couldn't believe how pretty she looked even though she was wearing all grey clothes, with those thick and ugly locking stockings.

His distraction seemed to have been noticed as he heard a quiet intake of breath next to him as if someone tried to not snort and Harry just wanted to turn his head and glare at the Slytherin boy as the Mediwitch let a loud gasp out as she finally looked up from the papers which she has been reading till now.  
He could see her grip tightening on the edges which now started to wrinkle under the force of her thin hands and Harry felt sorry for the owner of this medical record.

"What happened?" Her voice was high and loud and Harry had to keep himself from grimacing at her shocked voice as she rushed to his side.

"I found him like that in front of the river and brought him straight up here...he can't talk, probably dehydrated" Riddle's voice was lazed with concern and Harry was positive that if he would take a glance at the other boy he would see a worried face expression.

Merlin knows how Riddle wrapped everyone around his finger without anyone second guessing the Slytherin boys intentions, but not him!

Not Harry, he knew who the other boy was...what the other boy would become and he would do everything possible to change that outcome.

Harry swallowed down the feeling of hatred, knowing it wouldn't help him if he started to snarl or snap at the other boy again, especially not in front of someone else.

The middle aged women in front of him pulled her wand out after she had placed the ruined pages on the small nightstand next to the bed Harry was laying in.

He didn't say anything as the woman started to fuss over him, casting diagnostic charm on him, noting that a feather wrote everything down, everytime something seemed to gleam up on Harry's body.

The boy knew that the women was just doing her job and didn't know that Harry did not like it to get touched by another person but she always seemed to be careful to not as much as brush over his skin without asking permission first and he felt his stiff body relax slightly more into the soft mattress under her carrying behavior, feeling a bit safer than before with the knowledge that she wouldn't touch him out of nowhere.

As his body relaxed he felt that his wand was still in his right hand, white fingers tightly gripping the wood, and he forced himself to let his hand relax around the flexible wood, a nice kind of pain flooding through him, like someone had just pulled a needle out of his skin after days.

His fingers were sore, aching as he slowly flexed them and he decided to let them rest for a while as he placed them on top of his wand again, feeling his limbs grow heavier with each passing second.

His eyes trailed from his wand to his clothes and he wrinkled his nose slightly at the sight of wet dirt and ripped pieces of material, on some spots even blood.

Harry knew he had injures all over his body, he felt the throbbing, aching and piercing pain, he looked bad with the bruises which partly covered his skin and the cutting wounds as well as the few small spots which were lightly burned.

He looked like he had been fighting in a war... well he had but these people around him didn't know that, so he wasn't shooked as he heard the alarming loud inhale from the Mediwitch as she scanned the long parchment with her eyes.

'was it supposed to be so long?' he thought cringing, looking away from the two persons in the suddenly too small feeling room, instead he focussed on the beds which were placed in rows along the way not set along the wall like it had been in his Time.  
His brows barely furrowed as he silently counted the beds.  
26...  
26 beds were standing in this room but something wasn't right.

'why so many?'

The thought appeared so suddenly that he closed his eyes in attempt to think, as much as that was possible with his still pounding head.

He didn't know which year it exactly was , but he knew that Riddle was around the same age as him, which means he had to be in the forties...what did he knew about the 1940's?

'Grindewald!' his eyes immediately snapped open at the thought and he fought a groan as he remembered that in the same time World War II was raging.

'What the hell was he doing here?'

Harry blinked for a few times, trying to calm his erratic heartbeat down again as he watched the women in front of him pull two potions out of a small cabinet, opening them slowly probably in fear to spill something and then holding the first one carefully in front of Harry's mouth.

"You need to drink this, it's a potion which will give your body the missing vitamins and minerals and this potion is against your aching throat, so that you can properly hydrate yourself again"  
Her voice was gentle, like she was talking with a small child which wouldn't understand a word she said but he couldn't bring himself to care as he slowly drunk the two potions with her help.

"Will he be alright?"

Harry almost chocked on the second potion but quickly swallowed the last drop of liquid before it could block his respiratory tract, as he heard the calm but deep voice from earlier again.

'How could he have forgotten the other boy?'

Harry clearly was the only one who could hear the horrified tone of his voice he put in his thoughts, he always plaid attention to his surroundings, it was something he quickly learned while being on the run but it seemed that he was so exhausted right now that he has forgotten to pay attention to the people around himself and it scared Harry.  
So instead of listening to Riddle repeating his question (As if it would truly concern him), who was by the way 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 sitting next to him on that stupid chair Harry would like to kick away under Riddle's bottom, he watched the woman in front of him start to heal his wounds.

'It seemed like no one actually was going to ask questions'

Harry dismissed that thought as quick as it had appeared, knowing the only reason he wasn't demanded to answer questions was because he would need to rest before the headmaster would (probably) visit him tomorrow.

"You're lucky Mr. Riddle found you" she murmured as she looked up from the paper she had pulled away from the writing feather, a slight smile of proudness tugging on the corners of her lips, as she gazed towards the Slytherin boy.  
Harry, who watched the scene with critical gaze had the urge to role his eyes.  


He was tired and he just wanted to sleep, still hoping everything was just a bad dream or some trick...maybe Voldemort had put a charm on him? Maybe he wasn't even dead?  


He sighed quietly, glad not to be in the spotlight of attention right now, and dismissed the many questions in his mind, he needed to rest not get a even stronger headache.  
Which seemed to be impossible with Riddle sitting next to him, smiling charming and acting all humble in front of the mediwitch.

Harry closed his eyes exhausted, listening to the exchange between them, their voices slowly starting to lure him into sleep  
His limbs grew heavy and his body sunk more into the soft mattress by each passing second, till his body settled and the pain which has been present in his head slowly disappeared with his mind slipping into a lake of peaceful darkness. 

____________________________________

 _5th September 1944_

Harry slowly regained consciousness after hours of sleep.  
The sun was shining through the few windows on the stone walls and birds were happily chirping outside.  
The very familiar ceiling of the Hospital wing greeted him as he opened his eyes, disorientating and bewildering him in his state of awakening.  
Grunting in pain, he shoved his hands down on the mattress to get himself into a sitting position.  


He hissed softly at the strain which immediately put his protesting ribs under; maybe he should have remained lying down.  
His gaze travelled the length of the hospital wing.  
Harry's eyes focused on the calendar which he just noticed next to the metal door where probably the mediwitch rooms were, he narrowed his eyes in attempt to make out the numbers, glasses were pressing against his face and he sighed as he realized he must has slept with them, but his thoughts were quickly dismissed as he gasped in astonishment at reading the date.  


It had been real; bloody hell, he was back in the nineteen forties!

Harry let himself slide down on his bed with defeated face expression, his fingers slide lightly over his wand before he let slowly go of it only to grab it again tightly as he heard the squeaking of an opening door. 

He yanked his head around, for a second afraid he would snap his own neck by the speed but quickly got distracted by the mediwitch walking out of her rooms, towards him. 

Her brows were raised highly, seeming to disappeare in the small hat she was wearing as she let her eyes roam over his body.  
"Good morning, Hadrian how are you today?, any pain? soreness? do you need water? Mr.Riddle asked me to tell you that he hopes you'll recover well" 

Harry looked stunned at here, his eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. 

How could someone be so talkative in the morning? And how dare Riddle destroy his peaceful morning without even being near!

Not giving him any opportunity to answer the questions or show his distaste on her last sentence, she looked down on the neatly arranged papers in her hand and continued talking.  
"Aside from your burned right thigh, your injured left lung and the cuts over your back and chest parts, just like the two broken rips-" she took a deep breath, her eyebrows twitching for a second up before they were pulled together.  


He wasn't sure if he should be surprised by the seriousness from his wounds, but he had no time to dwell on them as he got withdraw from his thoughts again by her quiet sigh.  
"There are trails of a heavy trauma, signs of starvation and malnutrition...-" she trailed off quietly, seeming taken aback and he couldn't help but tense slightly, not really comfortable with someone saying those things out loud, especially not when he was in such a condition.  
Harry squeezed his eyes shut as his heart started to pound furious against his ribs, a shiver running down his body.  
He felt utterly humiliated.  
He inhaled shakily at the women's next words, like a poisoned hand squeezing itself around his heart making him unable to breath properly.

"-just like signs of abuse over many years"

Her voice was full of pity and he had to force himself to look away from her scrunched up features.  
Harry wished he had stopped her, yelled, cried out or had threw something at her...anything but stop the humiliation he felt taking his body in, swallowing every last drop of dignity and making his heart beat so fast he was scared it would jump out of his chest.

'it couldn't be so bad'  
Harry argued mentally, taking a deep breath through his nose at the feeling of his throat tightening, blood rushing to his face as he felt her gaze still on him and the need to disappear in the soft white sheets was more present than ever.  
He just wanted to be left alone.

"Hadrian?"

'Calm down'

He sighed quietly, taking another deep breath, his shoulder slumping defeated at her concerned voice, and his eyes slowly focused on her worried face expression again.

"Yes?"  
His voice was quiet, uneven not fully having shaken off the feeling of panic which had gripped him suddenly.  
It felt wrong that she knew what he had been through, she had no right to judge and pity him, she didn't even know him!  
He was completely fine!

"Headmaster Dippet will soon arrive, along with an Auror...they need to know what happened, you think you can do that?"

Harry wanted to instinctively yell 'No!' at her careful voice but it probably would be reckoned as rude so he bite hard down on his tongue and forced himself to remain calm, taking a deep breath through his nose he slowly nodded his head, knowing that if he opened his mouth he would start shutting at her.

After that the mediwitch, who goes by the name Madam Evelyn, (she finally introduced herself to him, which hasn't been really pleasant as she had stumbled more over her apologizes than really talk but Harry just smiled slightly at her and told her that it was alright that she had forgotten to introduce herself) had given him a few more potions after his request.  
One for the pain and one for his soreness.  
He also got a glass of water and a small bowl with fruits and vegetables.

He happily dived into his meal, his stomach growling appreciatively and he felt new energy rushing through his body, feeling already much better after he had eaten everything and drank the last drop of water.  
He really wanted to have a clear head when the Headmaster would visit him, especially since there would be an Auror too and Harry knew just how Auror's could get when they didn't get the answers they wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Which Hogwarts house would you like Harry to be in?  
> Write down below and let me know  
> Have a great day :)


	3. Visitors

His head jerked once again to the side as he heared approaching footsteps; it looked like it was time to play his role, which wouldn't be too difficult.  
He certainly wasn't old enough to be out of school, at least where his appearance was concerned.  
Harry always had looked younger than he actually was.  
He should have thought about his academic future though, the time he had waited for them to arrive he could have planned everything, but he hadn't thought about the possibility to get invited to study at Hogwarts. 

'I should have thought about that!' The indignant look was cleared from his face and replaced with a more neutral mask as he watched the heavy entrance door open up.

At least he wouldn't have to deal with Dumbledore since he wasn't the Headmaster, that was cheering him up...at least a small amount.  
He knew from the memory of the diary that Dumbledore was just the deputy, the actual Headmaster was Dippet. 

Unfortunately it seemed as he wasn't favored, as an older unhappy looking man, maybe around his forties, appeared inside the door, his uniform clearly showing that he belonged to the Ministry of Magic.  
The man walked inside, along with an older wizard that Harry knew to be Dippet; his portrait hung, like all former Headmasters of Hogwarts, within the Headmaster's office.  
Dippet had never spoken often; when he had, he'd defended Dumbledore against Phineas Black… which meant there was a chance Dippet was being manipulated by Dumbledore.  
He was just as frail as he appeared in his portrait, but Harry knew better than to judge anyone by their appearance.  
If both of them were there, then they'd obviously already informed the ministry about him. It surprised him though that there wasn't any healer from St.Mungo Hospital here.

"Hello, young man," Dippet said, his long black robes swang gracefully with every step the men took, stopping at the foot of Harry's bed.  
The blue eyes were gazing at him in what could only be sympathy and concern. "How are you feeling?"

At the same time the Auror opened his mouth, his eyes watching Harry suspicious "Who are you? What's your name?"

Harry gulped, at least the man hadn't called him 'my boy' but he still felt uncomfortable, knowing he would have to get used to it.  
There was no way he would be allowed to enter Hogwarts - no one had ever exchanged to Hogwarts...at least it had never been done before in all his years at Hogwarts.  
"I'm a bit hurt," Harry confessed, his voice more stable now but he let hint of insecurity shine through which made the Headmaster raise a warning brow at the Auror.  
Harry could handle the pain, but they didn't need to know that.  
He completely ignored the Auror's question; it might be considered rude but the man had spoken over someone else and that was even ruder.  
But he had to admit it was a good question, what was his name? Hadrian Potter wouldn't do in this time...he needed something with a ring to it, and he didn't want to be thought of as a pure blood supremacist, even though he knew the pureblood supremacy was worse now than it was in his own time.

"Hadrian Evans" Harry murmured making his decision to use the name from his mother, remembering that his mother had been the first witch in the Evans Family and it wouldn't come to misunderstandings. 

"Lucy?" Dippet called out, his bushy eyebrows furrowing as he wondered where on earth the women had gotten to.  
When no immediate response was forth coming, he walked over to the metal door that hid her office and knocked hard against it.

The door opened after a few seconds, revealing a confused matron. "Headmaster? Is everything alright? I thought you would like to talk alone with the boy?"

"Where are you from?" Mr. Faryl the man's name seemed to be, at least that's what Harry could read on the bandage which was sticking to the man's chest. 

The man was gazing at Hadrian as if he was a criminal. Harry didn't know that the Auror was reaching out for his magic, but he shivered lightly as he felt a sort of brushing feeling over his skin, the urge to get away from the other man was high. Mr. Faryl furrowed his brows, his face scrunching up in an ugly grimace as he narrowed his eyes even more at the boy in front of him.  
The boy's magic was calm, he almost couldn't feel it, which meant Mr. Evans had very good control over it ― and he wasn't sure whether that comforted him or not.

Harry didn't reply, he just clutched a hand to his stomach. He didn't even want to feign politeness, but he knew that would be detrimental in the long run. The Ministry of Magic could make his life hell ― at least until he wasn't out of age he couldn't legally do anything to protect himself, luckily Harry had turned seventeen last July, and it was the fifth September here, but Harry didn't know how exactly time traveling worked. 

He made a mental note to research that topic.

Mr. Faryl cleared his throat impatiently, pulling Harry out of the train of thoughts, noticing the men's left leg wiggling slightly and he raised his brows merely "Mr. Evans, Where are you from, my boy?"

Harry's eyes darkened in fury behind his glasses, he felt a rush of heat burning through his veins and he clenched his fists hard, just barely keeping a hold on his magic and stopping it from lashing out.  
'He was not anyones boy! '  
Not Dumbledore's boy and especially not the boy of some stupid Auror!  


Gritting his teeths Harry closed his eyes, to get a grip on himself again, thankfully before Mr. Faryl could become more insistent on his questions they were interrupted by Madam Evelyn, who woman blustered over to them.  
The Headmaster slowly following her, almost floating over the stone ground he walked on.

"Hadrian, do you still feel pain while breathing?" The women asked, already fussing over him like a worried mother. 

"You said it hurt, Mr. Evans," Dippet explained as he noticed Harry's overwhelmed face expression, waiting on a positive answer from the boy.

"Um," Harry was immediately flummoxed by the question. "I mean- yes, yes I do feel pain" he rushed to answer, his eyes glancing to the Headmaster and relaxing slightly as he saw the small smile .

"I would be surprised if you didn't" Madam Evelyn said a soft sigh leaving her red painted lips, her eyes seeming far away as she remembered what had happened to the child.  
"Here, drink this, it's grade 3. It's a high dosage, but considering the other pain potion I gave you today was useless, this one will definitely help."

Harry wanted to yank it from her and down it on the spot, but he refrained himself from doing so, instead he accepted it, titling his head slightly forward, thankfully when she removed the cork and hold it against his lips.  
A sigh left his lips as he drank it and the wonderful potion began working immediately.  
He wondered who brewed the potions in this time.  
"Thank you, it worked real fast," he said softly, a small smile on his face as he really was thankful, his relief was obvious to the three adults in the room.

"You're quite welcome," Madam Evelyn said, a soft smile on her face as well as she brushing it off, "We always would help a child in pain."

Harry had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from scoffing out loud.  
He knew one person that wouldn't do that, that one person who had left him by his relatives even though he had known what treatment Harry had gotten.  
But, it didn't have to be, did it?  
He could change so many things, for example stop Dumbledore from having such a big say in the wizard community.

Dippet conjured a chair next to his bed and sat down on it. Harry noticed with curiosity that the Headmaster had done that without his wand and his respect grew already for the Headmaster.  


"Do you want to talk about it?" The Headmaster asked, looking worriedly at Harry, which made his heart ache at the unfamiliar knowledge that his opinion mattered.  
Part of him was wondering if it was just an act and he honestly had no idea who exactly these people were, so he couldn't say how sincere it was but he also couldn't argue that the illusion still felt good.  
The next problem was he honestly had no idea what he should say; he was here and what?  
With the a war going on he could probably get away with pretty much everything.

"My family was attacked…my aunt and uncle, they were the only family I had left," Harry whispered with shaking voice, inwardly impressed with his own acting abilities as he saw them all stare at him but they certainly weren't surprised at his words.  
"They were killed, I couldn't help them; I fought as best as I could, but they were just... too many. I went down, curses were flying everywhere… and then I woke up here… that's all I remember, honest!" he claimed with panic filled voice, acting as if he thought they wouldn't believe him.

"Which magical school do you attend, Durmstrang or Beauxbatons?" Mr. Faryl cut in yet again, glancing briefly at the Medi-witch as she left quietly to get some water for their guest. He wasn't leaving here until he got everything out of the boy; he didn't want to let this Mr. Evans out of his sight...not with Grindelwald on loose and spies everywhere.  
Some things just weren't adding up, how was the boy still alive if it had been so many wizards?

"School? I never went to magical school," Harry informed them, his brows raised, staring at the Auror as if him had grown a second head.

"You never received a letter when you were eleven?" Dippet involved himself in the conversation, the chair cracking as the men leaned forward, looking concerned again.

"Yes, but I was forbidden to attend, you see Sir...my aunt and uncle weren't really fond of magical people like me" His shoulders slumped as he sighed quietly, his gaze turning to his hands which were laying on his lap.

"Did they hurt you?" The voice from Mr. Faryl seemed suddenly darker as he asked that question, causing Harry to whip his head around and stare at him with surprise.

"Sometimes," Harry admitted with a light shrug, feeling suddenly uncomfortable "I don't really want to talk about it" he added then quieter as before, avoiding to look into the dark eyes from the Auror. 

"A magical child being abused and denied to attend a magic school!" Headmaster Dippet snapped rather angry, his furious gaze turning from Harry to Mr. Faryl, who seemed equally angry. It surprised Harry as no one had seemed to care in his time. "Plus without a guardian, I will make sure the Ministry allows you to attend Hogwarts."

"Really?" He gasped quietly, not needing to act to sound surprised as Harry really had thought they wouldn't let him attend Hogwarts.  
To his surprise not the Headmaster answered but Mr. Faryl, it seemed to be a really tragedy that a magical child has been abused for years. 

"Do not worry, we have allowances for situations like this. It will be difficult, but we will manage it" Mr. Faryl told him reassuringly, the wariness he had felt to Hadrian completely forgotten "but you will have to work hard."

"I promise!" Harry said nodding eagerly, a smile on his face as he felt happiness bloom up inside him at the thought of attending Hogwarts again. 

"Do you know who your parents are?"  
His face dulled again as he faced Mr. Faryl, his eyes turning sad. "No, they never answered any of my questions," Harry replied honestly, which was true.  
His Aunt never had liked talking about his parents, he hadn't even known their names for a really long time. "If I asked about them they'd change the subject; once I was eleven it became worse… so I just stopped asking." It was incredibly easy for him to mix the truth and fabricated lies together and it made him wonder if the Sorting Hat maybe had been right about Slytherin after all.  
Hopefully it would prevent him from messing up and having anyone realize he was lying.

"Evans is an no wizarding name…maybe he is Muggleborn?" Mr. Faryl mused with a thoughtful expression, leaning his body against the wall next to Harry's bed.

"It's possible," Dippet said with a nod of his head, his right hand moving up to rub hover his wrinkled face.  
The older man seemed tired and Harry couldn't help but wonder when exactly Dippet had died...or did die?

"If you don't mind…what is your date of birth Hadrian?"  
The question came from Headmaster Dippet, who was now standing up from his chair, taking the neatly folded papers carefully from Madam Evelyn's hands and read quickly over them.

Harry thought quickly, but his voice blurted out the first month and date that was coming to his mind, "September, the third 1928" 'Wait, had he just put himself a year lower?'  
Damn it, but Harry wasn't really good or quick at math so it was more accidentally than purposefully...but maybe doing his sixth year once more wouldn't be too bad, it would probably even help him to actually concentrate on his studies instead of being afraid of getting attacked by Death Eaters, plus he would have more time to research everything about Time traveling. 

"So sixth year," Headmaster Dippet informed him, stopping Harry's attempt to count in which year he would be, glancing down at his wrist to check the time. "Now excuse us, we will leave you alone to rest in peace"

"Yes, Sir," Harry said, nodding slightly, his hair brushing over the scar on his forehead, covering it once again.

"Good," Dippet said, titling his head slightly in the direction of Hadrian before he turned his focus to Mister Faryl.  
"Come, Phineas, let him have some rest," not moving from his spot until he was sure Phineas had begun moving. He wouldn't leave without the Auror, it was his duty to take care of his students...or in this case future students and he would do hell and let an trained Auror alone with a traumatized child like young Mister Evans. 

Harry watched them go with a relived face expression, sighing as the heavy door closed behind the two wizards.  
He pushed his head gentle into the soft pillow, closing his eyes as he thought about their conversation...he really liked Dippet.  
A smiled inwardly formed on his face at the thought, he was glad everything had worked out in his favor.  
Harry would need to go to Gringotts as soon as possible, hoping the Goblins could help him in some way. He also would have to make sure everyone knew better than to mess with him, especially since he was now known as Muggleborn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next chapter Harry will get sorted, so leave a comment in which House you would want him to be in :)


	4. Sorting and more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I wrote that it will be Harry's sorting in this chapter, but I wrote so much that I would usually have split it up in two chapters...but promise is promise so this chapter will be long.  
> I also want to tell you that I changed the publication of the 'History of Magic' so that it would add up with the story line.

Hadrian shifted as he glanced at his nightstand, picking slowly the book up Madam Evelyn had placed there for him.  
Looking down at the book he noticed the familiar cover.  
"A History of Magic"  
It was merely whispered under his breath as he read the title out loud, the cool stone walls swallowing the sound as if he hadn't said anything in the first place. 

He was surprised to see that one of the most eminent magical history books was laying next to his bed, the book itself seemed new and Harry carefully opened the first page.  
His eyes immediately find the publication date on the white page, and sighed as he noticed that the book had been published this year so it wasn't really surprising that it looked brand new.  
It was the same big book with a lot of information he had used in school.

"Is there anything you don't understand?" Madam Evelyn asked, smiling softly at the boy as she stepped out of her office, having noticed Hadrian picking up the book.  
She knew he was extremely jumpy so she did her best by speaking quietly and reassuringly.  
After what she had read on the papers she wasn't surprised at his behavior, she could only hope that he didn't blame the wizarding community for not helping him.

"No, no I was just looking" he answered with a slight shrug of his shoulders, glancing up at the Medi-Witch before he opened his mouth one again "I still can't believe that I'll go to Hogwarts."

"I can't wait!" He added then with a gleeful face expression, empathizing his excitement.  
He really couldn't wait to experience Hogwarts without being a hero.  
Hopefully he wouldn't regret wanting to be normal.

Madam Evelyn chuckled at his excitement, shifting her weight on her left feet as she leaned more against the door frame. "I'm sure you can't," she responded with contend smile adorning her face.  
He was a very pleasant child, traumatised for sure, based on his face.  
"Are you feeling hungry again?" She then changed the topic, moving to one of the beds across from Harry and sitting down on it.  
He hadn't eaten much earlier, just a bowl with fruits, barely enough for a small child let alone a teenager boy.

"Not really," Harry admitted with furrowed brows, his starved body couldn't take it.  
He knew better than to eat a lot after a long time of eating small amount of foods or nothing at all, it would just cause complications on his way to get healthy again, so for now he would have to stick to small meals and start exercising here and there so that he wouldn't lose any muscle mass. 

"We will help you be able to handle four meals a day," the Medi-witch vowed, once again smiling reassuringly at him.  
"Till Halloween you'll be as healthy as someone possible can be" 

Halloween.

His face got paler as he remembered that he had no one here, no where to stay.  
Then something else dawned on him.  
The war was still going on out there in the Muggle world.  
What was it called?

'The London Blitz'  
Gulping loudly at the coming up informations, he paled drastically as he thought of the pictures from the war he had seen during History class.  
This was no act, Hadrian was absolutely terrified by the thought of living in the Muggle world.  
This unknown was the scariest thing he even had to contemplate facing, he knew what weapons muggles had, what they would still invite and he felt his stomach turn.  
He had faced down his worst enemy, unafraid of death but the thought of going into the Muggle world during a war with bombs raining down the sky was horrifying.

A chilling thought interrupted his growing sickness.  
'Was this how Riddle felt every time he had to go back?'  
'The feeling of terror sinking deep into his bones?'  
Feeling the sickness acting up again he scrambled from his bed, the book falling to the ground at his rushed movements.  
"―toilet?" gagged Harry, standing on shaky legs as he moved his hand up to press it against his mouth, preventing anything to come out.

"Right through there," Madam Evelyn said, already having gotten up at Harry's scrambling, watching him go deeply concerned.

"Poor child" She said sadly shaking her head as she pursed her red lips with a sigh.  
The boy would survived it, though, she was sure of it.  
He had already survived the attack, he wouldn't give up yet.  
Right now both worlds were in a state of war, the sudden thought sobbered her up and she moved to the toilet door the boy had disappeared in.

Harry barely managed to push his glasses from his face to the ground as he bent over the toilet, emptying the little contents of his stomach.

It was November, and he had until summer to figure out where he would stay.  
At least he was out of age and could protect himself if needed but that still did help him financial.  
He closed his eyes tiredly as he leaned his head against the toilet, ignoring the foul taste of vomit lingering in his mouth. 

Could he truly change Riddle?  
Stop him from becoming Voldemort?  
He didn't know, he knew so little about time traveling, worrying about the consequences of manipulating time.

Pressing the handle down from toilet, he slowly got up on shaking legs and turned around to face the sink. Turning the tap on, he cupped his hands around the cold water before splashing it on his face. Repeating the process for three times before gulping some of the water in his hands trying to wash away the foul taste in his mouth. 

Breathing evenly, he stared at the mirror blinking in surprise. Well, the messy hair wasn't gone but they curled now more around the edges, which made them look more gracefully and neat, he never had seen his hair neat, it was like it had lost the wildness. His fingers touched it hesitantly, as if suspecting it was just his imagination.

'It obviously wasnt'  
He pursed his lips as he let his fingers linger on the soft feeling hair, just to pull them quickly away again as if he had burned himself as he realized he didn't were any glasses.

'Why can I se-'  
The thought was interrupted by a feeling of euphoria.  
He no longer needed glasses!  
His eyes narrowed at his own reflection, moving a step back as if to test if he would still see everything.

"How?" He breathed quietly, his voice bewildered, the emerald eyes of his reflection piercing through him even though he was standing four feet's away from the mirror. 

Harry stepped forward again, his right hand absently touching the mirror glass.  
For whatever reason he had jumped back in time, but now his appearance had changed as well? How was that possible!

A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts.  


"Hadrian, dear, are you alright?" Madam Evelyn called through the door, her tone clearly worried.  


"Coming," Harry said, giving himself a last look in the mirror before he picked up his now useless glasses from the ground, even though his new appearance looked unfamiliar to him, he had to admit that it looked good. Nodding satisfied, he wandered over to the door and opened it, glad that she respected his privacy and didn't storm inside.

"Let's get you back on the bed, you look ready to fall asleep on the spot," she said, noting that he didn't were glasses anymore but didn't voice it out.  
Instead she took hold of his arm after he had nodded his consent and guided him over to his bed, letting him put some of his weight on her to ease the way.

_______

"This is a potion that will help you sleep, Harry, without dreams; you need to rest and this is the best way for that. I'll be here all the time and if you're in pain I am right over there" Madam Evelyn pointed her finger in the direction of her office and private quarters.  
Only then did she hand over the potion, his stiff posture as she moved closer preventing her from squeezing his shoulder.  
He looked so tired, he definitely needed rest.  
She was glad she had alerting spells on the beds, that meant if he moved a significant amount, she would be informed. 

"You need to eat something first, taking it on an empty stomach is not recommended" Madam Evelyn's voice was sternly at the end, telling Harry that he shouldn't argue with her about. She continued then with a softer tone after Harry had nodded his understanding.  
"Is there something you'd like?" 

Harry furrowed his brows as he looked down at his lap, a thoughtful expression on his face "some scrambled eggs with fruits?"  
Hopefully the House Elves would put strawberries in the bowl.  
Harry loved strawberries, they were so juicy and sweet, he could eat hundreds of them and here would no one stop him from eating.  
No one would forbid him food here and Harry felt a small happy twinkle in his abdomen, smiling slightly at the thought.

"Coming right up," Madam Evelyn said, moving to her office, much to Harry's amusement.  
She didn't seem to want to explain what House-elves were for but Harry hadn't asked explicitly asked so he wouldn't dwell on it.  
It probably was a good thing anyway as he wasn't really up to pretending that he didn't know them.

Harry was beyond tired already even though it was only around twelve AM, not that his body seemed to care about that.

He let a quiet yawn out, relived as he didn't feel any pain, the potion was still working, but he had to admit  
sleep did sound amazing.  
He knew that he couldn't fall asleep though, the Medi-Witch had said that he shouldn't fall asleep before eating his second meal and Harry wouldn't tary and argue with her.

"Here we go," she told Hadrian as she came back through the metal door which hid her office.  
A tray floating in front of her, and landing in his lap. There was more than just scrambled eggs and fruits, a perfectly half cut toast was next to the scrambled eggs and a small glass of milk was placed next to the plate.  


"Try and eat as much as possible," she said with a reassuring smile forming on her lips, as she noticed his uncertain gaze.

"I'll try," Harry replied softly, titling his head up to look at the women, before he dugged a bit more slowly into his second meal for today.  


'At least there were a few strawberries'  
Harry mused as he stabbed a smaller one with his fork, pushing it quickly in his mouth before a quiet hum was echoing from the stone walls, the source was smiling happily as he chewed on the sweet fruit.

Madam Evelyn chuckled to herself as she heard the noise, not stopping as she wandered off, her shoes clicking against the Marmor ground every time she did a new step.  


Harry frowned suddenly upon as he looked up with the fork still between his pink lips, his emerald eyes moving to the blank Pumps the women was wearing.  
He hadn't noticed them before, and that really was surprising considering how loud they were.  
Harry didn't like it that his body was so exhausted that he didn't pick up on such things.  
He forced himself to look away with a frustrated grimace while pulling the fork out of his mouth, continuing to eat his food in silence.

__________________

_6th September 1944_

Harry woke up to the sun shining onto his face, causing him to groan inaudibly and turn carefully around on his stomach, placing the pillow over his head.  
He hadn't had such a good sleep in a long time.  
It must still be early, the sun was weak right now but Harry knew it would only get brighter, or it wouldn't.  
It was September here, the sun probably would always be weak when it was out in the later months of the year.  
He would need to remember it wasn't summer anymore. He'd need to remember a lot more in fact but it really wasn't the time to think about such unpleasant things.  
Being in a new time was just as terrifying as it was exciting. Only time would tell whether he would would change everything for good or if he would make everything worse. 

'What a pleasant thought'  
Harry huffed quietly, stretching his body tiredly as he heard a door open, turning on his back again to pull the pillow away and squint his eyes open.

"Good morning, Hadrian, how are you feeling this morning?" Madam Evelyn said walking through the metal door and into the hospital wing. She had a silver tray in her arms which she promptly placed across his lap when she got to him, smiling at him reassuringly.

"Good morning, ma'am," Harry replied grumbling, not able to bring himself to sound more enthusiastic at such morning hours. His stomach though, seemed to be happy at the sight of food as it growled loudly.  
Merlin, he was hungry. "I feel a lot better today," he admitted then, slowly sitting up as his limbs were still stiff from sleep.

"Sleep will help you heal, your magic always works better in healing you when you are asleep, because you don't use it for anything else" Madam Evelyn said, trying to explain it in a way she thought the teenager would understand.

"Really? That's amazing" Harry said his eyes twinkling even though he had already known it since he was a small child.  
Every time his family had been physical towards him, he would heal overnight, his magic focusing on the damage and getting rid of it.  
He had long ago come to the conclusion that was why his magic hadn't been explosive towards other things. Harry had to admit (as much as it painted him) that both Riddle and him had gained control of their magic at a very young age, using it to their advantage.  
Riddle's had caused those that hurt him pain, controlling them and scaring them.  
Harry's instead had instinctively saved itself for the pain he knew was coming.  
In a way they were like two sides of the same coin.

"When you've learned a little more about magic, I'll give you a book that will help you understand it a little more," Madam Evelyn promised, tapping her wand against the blanket which folded itself on the end of Harry's bed, so that he wouldn't make it dirty while eating.  
"Now eat up while it's warm."  
He was far too thin and malnourished in her opinion.  
It was a good thing his relatives were dead, otherwise they would be facing criminal charges for endangering and neglecting a child. They would have to press charges through a Muggle court of course.  
Muggles didn't get sent to Azkaban, as much as they sometimes wished they could send them there, it certainly would help them lern a lesson, plus it would be nothing more than they deserved for their actions against a magical child.

"What will I be learning at school?" Harry asked, wondering how similar the curriculum would be from when he had been there, probably the same.  
Which meant he'd find the classes easy and had enough time to research everything.  
He would just take the amount of classes he could handle while still having enough time to spend in the library, although he wasn't sure how many books there were about Time traveling.

"Hogwarts teachers a variety of classes, in fact you'll choose your own electives, even though you should have done that at your fifth year...anyways they will help you choose your career. I am sure someone will come in with a list for you," The Medi-Witch informed him, glad to see him eating properly.  
"Will I be able to get one?" Harry enquired, sounding suddenly worried which made Madam Evelyn place her hand reassuringly next to Harry's leg.

"Of course. Headmaster Dippet has already pushed for the funds you'll need for your school things," The female informed him with a mild smile.  
"Soon you'll be learning how to be a wizard."

"Thank you," Harry said, taking the last bite from his toast, chewing and then quickly swallowing the piece as another question formed in his head.  
"How long do you think it will be before I start learning?" He had to be very careful with his question, one slip of the tongue could cause numerous complications.

"Soon," she replied, banishing the tray with a flick of her wand, and then she disappeared with a small smile through her office doorway.

Harry didn't have to wonder what she was doing. Not even a few minutes later the Headmaster and Dumbledore stepped through the office door, having obviously used the Floo network to get here. He stared at them in surprise, not having expect Dumbledore to come along.  
"Headmaster!" Harry exclaimed then as his gaze lit up, his gaze going from the office door to the hospital wing entrance, "I… how did you… I mean… I didn't see you…"

"We have many ways in which a wizard or witch travels, young Hadrian, which you will learn about today," Headmaster Dippet told him with an amused gleam in his blue eyes, moving to sit on the chair which still was standing next to Harry's bed.  
"These books need to be learned before you start classes; we will get someone to help you catch up...but before that, I'm afraid you must pick your classes before you can go to Diagon Alley, our shopping centre to pick up your books for this year." The books he placed on the bottom of the bed and a rolled up parchment he handed over to the teenager who thankfully didn't look too overwhelmed.  
Hadrian must be good at adjusting to new things; some people were like that, while others didn't do well with change.

Harry unrolled the parchment, curious to see what classes there were on offer.  
His eyes then widened in surprise as he saw that there were classes he had no idea existed.  
'What had happened to them in his time?'  
His heart sank as he realised the answer: everything got banned. Apparently the magical world had gotten rid of more classes than he'd thought possible. The parchment had a very detailed descriptions of what the classes were, even extracurricular classes were listed; three he really liked the sound of and it would keep him busy enough.

"I know what I'd like to take," Harry said determined, glancing up at the Headmaster a confident look on his face.

"Are you sure? There is no rush," The Headmaster said, raising his right brow at the young teenager.  
Hadrian was one year behind his electives... and he didn't even want to think of the years of Hadrian's missing education. The quicker the teenager had his books, the more prepared he would be for joining classes soon.

"I'm sure," Harry replied adamantly, nodding his head. Perhaps he wouldn't be bored after all, especially with these new classes.

"Which classes would you like to take?" Headmaster Dippet asked, flicking his wand with his right hand. A second later Parchment and a quill appeared in the air, the feather at the ready to write everything down Harry said.  
The main curriculum wrote itself down automatically, after all Harry would need to take those classes, there was no question about it.

"Charms, Transfiguration, Astronomy, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Healing, Ancient studies, Magical Law and Finances, Magical Theory and-" Harry listed them off one by one before he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, his lips pursing slightly as he looked down at the parchment again. Maybe it would help him in this time?  
"- Dark Arts" he finished then, looking up from the paper.

"That is a lot of classes, are you sure you wish to take so much?" Dippet cautioned, his neat looking robes rustling as he leaned back in his chair, "You have a lot to catch up on."

"I've always been a quick study," Harry admitted with a proudly face expression. 

"Do you have the list, Albus?" Headmaster Dippet enquired then, turning his attention to his employer and good friend. "As the deputy Headmaster, he's responsible for making sure all informations letters go out to all students, which books they will need in the next school year for example... You have quite the list to get, but Albus will be helping you." He explained, gesturing with his hand to Albus before something else came to his mind.  
"You will also learn how to fly with the first-years, if you improve quickly I cannot see why we wouldn't give it a miss for the rest of the year."

"I do," Dumbledore said after Headmaster Dippet had stopped talking, his light blue eyes staring at Hadrian pensively…but he had been doing that since they'd come in so Harry wasn't about to react to it.

"Okay," Harry said agreeable, knowing he would just need to take a few flying lessons and the teacher would tell him he was a 'natural', and then Harry could concentrate on his other studies. Some of them looked really hard and complicated; he was looking forward to the challenge.

"Good!" Dippet said giving him a huge smile, which made the Headmaster look decades younger "Today evening you shall be sorted into your house; that will give you the weekend to get used to Hogwarts and learn everything you can. The teachers will be told, so don't feel pressured into doing anything until you are ready. Now are you up for a trip to get your school things?"

Harry nodded his head eagerly. He couldn't wait to finally walk around and see for himself what it was like here in this time.  
He noted that Dumbledore was far too quiet for his liking, the old man always had liked to have everything under his control.  
He just knew as soon as they were away from the school he was going to be bombarded with questions.  
He wasn't ready for that, but he knew he had to act his part.

"Stand up, please" Dippet urged politely, gesturing with his hand for him to get up, "I will transfigure your pyjamas into something to wear temporarily until you get some clothes from Madam Malkin's Robe shop."

Harry got up, waiting for Headmaster Dippet to change his pajamas.  
"That's brilliant!" he said in reverence, once again noticing that the former Headmaster had done Wandless magic and that without looking exhausted.

"It's nothing, now off you go," Dippet told him making a small noise in the back of his throat, "And before I forget, here is the money. The gold coins are Galleons, the silver ones are Sickles, and the bronze ones are Knuts; it is our currency.," he explained, pointing at each piece to show the difference between them, but the boy in front of him didn't seem really surprised so he asked the first question which came to his mind.  
"You already know wizarding money?" 

"Yes I do, and thank you" Harry said gratefully, mentally wondering if feather-light charms hadn't been invented yet as he noticed how heavy it was.  
He clutched the money close to himself, not willing to let it out of his sight as it was the only money he had right know. 

"Follow me, Mr. Evans," Albus demanded with a jerk of his head, starting to move quickly "I have a class to teach in little over an hour so there is no time to waste."

"Yes, Sir," Harry said not bothered in the slighted at Dumbledores tone, raising his brows at the old man before he averted his gaze, inwardly sniggering when the old men looked taken aback.

Honestly, did Dumbledore think he could just treat people like that and expect them to smile and tell him their whole life story?

Harry quickly picked up his wand and pushed it into his pocket, before he continued to follow Dumbledore quietly, making sure to keep his distance from the middle aged wizard.

Unfortunately, that didn't help keep the questions at bay after they used the Floo Network to get to the Leaky Cauldron and through the wall protecting the magical world from detection.  
"Are you sure you do not know who your parents were?"  
Albus asked worriedly, his eyes twinkling down at the small sixteen years old. 

"How could I? Sir, my parents died when I was a baby," Harry stated, his fists clenching in the pockets of his robes, his anger babbling on the edge of surface.  
'What the hell was Dumbledore's Problem!?'  
He was already grating on his nerves, and he knew there was a lot to come in the next two years...if he would stay that long.

"You cannot remember magic being part of your life at all?" Albus asked as they walked. The first place to go was Flourish and Blotts after all the young boy needed school books.  
Albus wasn't sure about allowing Hadran into Hogwarts, he would have felt better if he could read his mind and see how the attack happened.  
It was important to know whether they had been trying to kill him because he was a threat, if they were searching for the young boy the other students were in danger as well, and Hogwarts could get  
Grindelwald's new target.

"I do, mostly accidental magic...till I finally got my wand last year...i informed myself about the magic world for years and as I knew I was magical I knew that I belonged there...but the attack, it was the first time I actually saw someone use magic" Harry lied barefaced, stopping on the spot as he turned to look at Dumbledore.

"I'm sure that must have been terrifying for you," Albus said with sympathy, looking concerned at the boy and stopping abruptly as well as the younger boy did. 

"I thought I was going to die," Harry murmured, his brows furrowing as he stared off into the distance, he felt...numb all of sudden and he didn't like the feeling as if nothing mattered. 

"You have recovered remarkably well," Albus commented with a slight title of his head, noticing the young boy showed no emotion over what had happened.

Hadrian didn't response, merely shrugging his shoulders as they continued to walk along the way. 

______________________  
_Evening - 6th September 1944_

Harry was practically waiting on pins and needles for the evening to come around, his heart pounding so hard he was afraid he would get a heart attack.  
Next to the nervousness was also relief, glad that he would finally get out of the Hospital Wing, although he found Madam Evelyn to be a refreshing change from Madam Pomfrey. She wasn't as overbearing, but she was just as protective.  


He had pretended to get through four of his first-year school books, doing a charm or transfiguring something here and there just to test out if the spells worked with his wand. Not that he needed it, but that was a whole other matter. He had to be careful with everyone watching him so closely.

Harry had also thought long and hard on where he wanted to be placed.  
No doubt the Hat would have the same trouble as last time. Harry knew he had traits of all four houses: a thirst for knowledge… well, he had to admit that he hadn't had that the last time he was sorted.  
He was loyal to those who were loyal to him in turn, and would die for that loyalty. The only problem with that was that he hadn't found such a person yet, although he knew betrayal all too well. He was brave in the face of adversary, just not so reckless anymore, but he wasn't even contemplating going into Gryffindor; he did not want Dumbledore as a Head of House. That though made him shudder. 

The last one would be Slytherin. Well that always had been the House towards which he was more inclined.  
He was sneaky, wanted true friendship, and had a thirst to prove himself was definitely there.  
He wasn't sure he wanted to end up in the snake pit, although from what he could gather the dynamics in Slytherin now were different from all he knew.  
The only upside to ending up in Slytherin was he would be able to keep an eye on Riddle, maybe even manage to change some of the views that the Slytherins had.  
Work from the inside like a spy of some sort.

 _'He would do well in Slytherin'_ echoed in his head, from the Sorting Hat.  
He wasn't even sure he would get a choice this time around. Perhaps he would be best to just let it run its course, have the Hat tell him where he was meant to be.  
The last time he fought it..well let's say it hadn't been the best outcome.

"Are you ready to go?" Madam Evelyn asked Hadrian gentle, not wanting to startle the boy who seemed deep in thoughts. She noted that he did look a bit jumpy, but she couldn't tell whether it was due to excitement or fear.

"Yes," Harry said calmly, looking up from his wand, which he had starred at the whole time. His eyes trailed to his black, new trunk, which stood in front of his bed. "What do I do with my trunk? Take it with me?"

She bite the inside of her cheek thoughtfully before she pulled her wand out "Wait a second" she told the young boy before she focused on the trunk, moving her wand as she said clearly, so that Hadrian would hear it "Reducio."  
Hadrian watched her hand move in perfect circled shape, knowing that was the wand movement for the spell, he appreciated her form of showing him which spell she used instead of just shrinking it. 

Hadrian smiled thankfully at her and got up from his bed.  
He had already dressed in his black school robes, knowing the colour of his clothes would change depending on which house he got sorted in.  
Hadrian knew he looked very handsome in his school uniform, less emaciated.  
He had been told by Madam Evelyn that she had ordered the House-elves to put a nutrition potion into his goblet, so he would be perfectly healthy soon enough and he really was grateful that she cared so much about him.  
It wasn't something he was used to, which made him appreciate it even more.

"Right, then, I think we'd best start making our way there now; if we are lucky we can get you sorted before all the students sit down for dinner," Madam Evelyn said softly, making her way to Hadrian's, now small, trunk to take it carefully, before she motioned Hadrian to follow her. "Just remember, if you get sore, come and see me."

"I promise," Harry said solemnly, giving her a shy smile, his green eyes twinkling excitedly, seeming brighter in the light of candles.  
He was finally out of the Hospital Wing! Tonight he would be sleeping in a dorm, not watched by closely, it made him much more relaxed.  
He was honestly surprised Dumbledore hadn't tried Legilimency on him, although it did require eye contact and Harry had made sure to not meet the old man's eyes.  
Harry made sure to stay a few steps behind Madam Evelyn, occasionally looking around, acting as if he was overwhelmed by everything he was seeing.

"Ah Lucy, you've made it, good. The Sorting Hat is already waiting for you in the Great Hall," Headmaster Dippet told her, a gleeful twinkle in his eyes as he smiled to welcome the both of them, as soon as he noticed the door to his office opening.

"Can't I get sorted here?" Harry asked hopefully, his gaze moving across the office.  
Everything was tidy and clean, just like Harry had expected, he would like to get sorted here...not in front of the whole school.

"It's tradition, Hadrian, follow me" Headmaster Dippet said as he started to walk, merely glancing over his shoulder to check if the boy was following him.  
The Headmaster knew that Lucy would guard the trunk from the young men, as it would then magically appear in front of Hadrian's new bed, in whichever house that would be. 

"Okay…" Harry said doubtfully, wrinkling his nose already nervous but followed the headmaster along the few hallways and stairs their passed on the way down.  
He was glad as he noticed that Dipper walked to a deep red wooden door he had never seen before, which meant he wouldn't have to walk through the whole Great Hall to get to the Sorting Hat.  


'The entire school was out there.'  
Harry took a deep breath to calm his nerves, his hand moving up to straighten his tie before he nodded slightly to himself.  
He locked eyes with Headmaster Dipper, who smiled reassuringly at him, before opening the other door in the room.  
They were already looking at him, staring at him as if he was an alien...some gazes were curious and other critical.  


This reminded him of his first sorting and it made Goosebumps appear all over his arms, he didn't like it.  
He swallowed harshly, averting his eyes from the mass of students and edged around the teachers' tables. 

Harry titled his head slightly to peer at them curiously, wondering who was whom and who taught what.  
A few faces looked sort of familiar, but he couldn't work out from who he knew the faces.  
Many were actually quite young ― younger than he was used to seeing at any rate.  
Snape had been thirty and that was already young, but a few teachers here looked like their were in their twenties which surprised Harry, but he quickly got distracted again by the many eyes on him.  


Hearing the students talking quietly amongst themselves, it sounded to him like a million bees buzzing around the room and it made him mildly nervous, the possibility to mess something up was far too real.  
But eventually he managed to reach the stool without stumbling or any other embarrassing mistakes.  
Sitting down, he found himself feeling distinctly odd, he was taller than he had been the last time he took such a seat to be sorted. 

##### 'Well, well, well, what do we have here? This is quite the unique situation is it not, Harry Potter? Or should I call you Hadrian Evans?'

the Hat said chuckling in Harry's ear and he forced himself to stare with blank face expression forward.  


##### 'I see you've decided not to fight my ruling this time… I don't usually take the student's preferences into consideration, it's not good for their social life.'

'Well, you did, and it wasn't just me. You sorted Granger into Gryffindor when she was meant to be in Ravenclaw, at least that's what she told me,' Harry confirmed with a mentally raised brow.

##### 'Very strange, indeed,'

the Hat mused, before it quiet down for a few seconds.  
Harry shifted slightly on the stool, feeling uncomfortable with totally silence around him, but before he could ask if something was wrong the Hat continued.

##### 'Well, your sorting will be easy this time, better be,'

"SLYTHERIN!"

'Thanks,' Harry muttered sardonically, not showing any feelings on his face regarding the sorting, before he lifted the Sorting Hat from his head and placed it back on the stool.  
He watched in bemusement as the Slytherin house crest appeared on his cloak, then shaking his head he moved off the dais and down the steps, making his way over to the Slytherin section.  
He knew they weren't the Slytherins from his time, but they all did look like them, it didn't make Harry feel welcome but at least he wouldn't get their names mixed up. Harry sat down as a space was made for him, the students seemed to be around his age and he concluded that it must be the sixth-year section of the table.

Hadrian then noticed that it was mostly just the teachers applauding politely at his sorting.  
A few students joined in, mostly Hufflepuff's, but overall they weren't sure what to make of a student coming out of nowhere and joining them. He would bet that most of them disliked him on principle of him being in Slytherin anyway.  
And the Slytherin's? Well, they didn't know if he was useful or not. After all, none of them would dare to associate with a Muggle-born or half-blood, and until they knew otherwise, they would probably ignore him... which would be completely alright with Harry.  
He wasn't really gleeful to find out what would happen when they found out that he was indeed a Muggleborn. 

He slid into his seat, ignoring the other students as he opened the book he'd brought with him, it had fitted comfortably in his cloak pocket.  
Well, he was in Slytherin after all, let's just hope the Hat knew what it was doing.  
He couldn't help but wonder if he had been given Friday off, as well as the weekend to get used to Hogwarts.  
As soon as he was down in the dorm he would hopefully find out.

Feeling himself being watched, he looked up from his book, staring around at the sea of faces, until he met dark brown eyes staring back at him.  
'What does he want?'  
Harry thought frowning, before he let his eyes roam over the high cheekbones, the plump pink lips and finally up again to those deep brown eyes.  
He would recognize that face anywhere… even if the last time he had seen it, he had almost passed out from exhaustion.

The other boy did not look away when he was caught, he merely arched one of his perfectly shaped eyebrows and continued to stare.  
Harry didn't want to be the one to look away; he almost felt as if this was a challenge, as if the other boy would test waters, but then just like that with a dismissive look Riddle turned away as if suddenly deciding that Harry wasn't good enough for his attention.

He felt like it was just the beginning of a very long year.


	5. A Lion between Snakes

Hadrian followed a brown haired boy quickly, whom he suspected to be a familiar from Flint of his time, (he would recognize those teeth everywhere,)down to the dungeons. Professor Slughorn had asked the Perfect to escort him to the Slytherin common room, as the Head boy Abraxas Malfoy wasn't attending school today and he was glad Slughorn hadn't asked Riddle.  
So Flint had gotten the task to show Hadrian the way down to the dungeons, before the other students and Harry was honestly surprised that Slughorn had such a good idea.  
He wasn't really a fan of masses of people around him, it made his skin itch uncomfortable and he always would get the feeling that he couldn't breath properly. 

The young brunette man absently pointed out portraits, which would help him make sure he didn't get lost on his way from or back to Slytherin common room.  
Harry did find it helpful, and was surprised and suspicious as to why the other boy would be nice.  
Markus Flint, the Slytherin from his time, would have rather asked about his blood status at the first meeting and then cut his tongue off for speaking to a Muggleborn like him, but maybe the other boy just didn't know where to put his Surname.

"The password to gain entrance is 'tenebris' speak it and the door will open for you," the older boy explained with a graceful hand gesture to the darker looking spot on the stone wall, before the spot grew and grew, till it had the shape of a door.  
Harry's eyes widened slightly as he watched the door opening itself but quickly hid his astonished behavior as both of them entered the Slytherin common room.  


The room was empty, since the other students were still in the Great Hall for the time being and Harry's eyes roamed to the bookshelves, making a mental note to definitely check those books out.

"Welcome to Slytherin common room. My name is Joseph Flint, and you may come to me if you have any problems, either that or find our Head boy Abraxas Malfoy ."  
The boy sounded extremely proud as he said his name, smiling smugly at Hadrian as if he expected him to crouch down on his knees.

Harry had the urge to grimace at the disgusting smirk on the other boys face, Flints teeth's were really big and crocked.  
He would bet his last Galleon that every Flint family member was cursed with such bad looking teeth.  


The other boy was staring at him waiting on an answer, Harry noticed, and he quickly looked up into the older ones eyes again.  
Hadrian merely nodded his head in understanding, not really in the mood to be polite, so it would be better if he didn't say anything at all.

"The dorms are up there, boys to the left, girls to the right; your trunk is already in the room you'll be sharing with the other boys," Flint informed him, his muddy brown eyes barely narrowing as he looked at the other boy named Hadrian Evans, before averting his gaze and moving towards the left staircase, making his way up the stairs until he reached the sixth-year boys' dormitory.

"This is your room, you'll be sharing with Avery, Lestrange, Nott, and the other Perfect Tom Riddle," Joseph Flint informed him, his head turned to the side, eyes fixed on the door and Harry couldn't help but point out how sharp the boys jawline looked.  


'At least he had some other good-looking traits'  
Harry mused, his mouth twitching slightly as he turned his focus to the door.

"Thanks," Harry murmured, avoiding to look at Flint again as he opened the door and slowly stepped inside, leaving the Perfect to do whatever he needed to do.  
Hadrian didn't really care.  


His bed was obviously the one without any uniform on it and he noticed it was closest to the wall at the back of the dorm.  
He usually did like to have his own corner but now it felt more like he was trapped, as he had to pass all beds in attempt to reach the entrance door.  
His bed, he also realized, was next to Riddle's, thanks to the trunk which had the three letters 'TMR' written on the front, which gave it away.

Pursing his lips, he pulled his wand out, before he started to cast as many spells as possible without taking the affect of another spell off, on the trunk, wanting to keep the contents of his trunk safe.  
Hadrian didn't know if one of the Slytherin's has sticky fingers, so it wasn't a bad idea to protect his things from everyone, at least till he knew where he stood in the Food chain and he already knew it wouldn't be really high. 

Once he had finished he got back up from ground, deciding that  
he still wasn't in the mood to deal with any of his roommates tonight, he slid into the green silk sheets, flicking his wand in perfect movement and smiling slightly as his curtains closed, knowing only he would be able to open them.

Sighing in content, he laid back and quickly found himself thinking again.  
He was shorter than the rest of the sixth-years, it was unfortunate, he probably would need to prove himself even more because of it but he always had to stand up for himself because other people had judged him too quickly.  
Well he had been 'the boy who lived' no surprise there. 

Harry sighed again, this time more frustrated as he pushed his wand under his pillow.  
He couldn't wait to get out of Hogwarts and get to Gringotts.  
He needed money and the only way to find out if he had anything was if the Goblins made a blood test, it would make things infinitely easier but he still was doubtful if it wouldn't be problematic.  
What if his real name appeared?

He would think about it another time, he decided before he remembered his classes.  
Merlin, the classes they had here.  
He was actually looking forward to them, a lot of them were new and he didn't know much about them but if they would be interesting?...well he sure hoped so.

_______________

"Do you think he's a descendant from a pureblood family?" Avery whispered, as he watched the boy leave quiet a few steps behind Flint "Rumour has it that he was in Germany when he was attacked, It makes no sense. If he is a pureblood why would Grindelwald want to attack him?" he wondered quietly, taking his fork before he started playing with his food by shoving it from right to left on his plate, thinking about the little information they had about the new boy.

"Good question," Rabastian Lestrange muttered quietly, after he swallowed down his food. "Did you see what he was reading? A third-year charms book, he obviously didn't attend magical school."

"That's right, Professor Slughorn asked everyone to help him feel welcome, that he wasn't used to the magical world," Antonin Dolohov commented with narrowed eyes, his features scrunched up in a ugly grimace. "He's probably just a Mudblood!"

"I don't know about that," Aiden Avery said rejoining the conversation with a thoughtful face expression, his tongue poking out between his lips before he continued to talk "I mean, if we are right and he knew nothing about the magical world… he survived a vicious attack. He appeared here out of nowwhere...probably apparated all the way from Germany to Scotland; even with wish magic he must be pretty powerful." He hadn't gotten a good look at the new boy, but from what everyone was saying he'd been in a right state.

"Who cares?" Thaddeus Nott grouched from between Lestrange and Avery, his jaw set as he looked up from his plate, his eyes turning to Riddle "He looks more like a first-year Mudblood anyway, doesn't he, Tom?"

Tom Riddle turned to look at Nott, nothing giving away the immense dislike he had for that name.  
"He does," he replied smoothly but shortly, his voice deep and his focus turned away from the other boy again.  
It couldn't be denied that Hadrian Evans was extremely short for his age, albeit first-year was a slight exaggeration.

"He's a sixth-year though...I wonder where he will be sleeping," Rookwood said, frowning as he thought about the dormitories, "I hope we don't have to room with him."  
He didn't like the thought of a stranger in his room...he didn't like that at all.

"We will find out soon enough," Nott mused, his head titling to the side when he saw Tom getting up, clearly done with eating, what Nott couldn't say about himself but despite the fact he hadn't finished his dessert he stood as well, knowing better than to anger Tom.  
The other two roommates followed his example and they left the Great Hall together.

"Have you finished your homework for Alchemy, Aiden?" Lestrange asked, as they walked down into the dungeons, walking behind Tom, but still keeping up with the fast pace.

"Yes, last night," Avery replied, his shoulder long black hair swinging with the nod of his head "You aren't copying from me again, the professor noticed and took points." He scowled at the thought of their Alchemy teacher, a half-blood...not really surprising she was so bad at her subject. 

Lestrange grumbled under his breath, but didn't push farther, knowing the other boy would complety close up if he tried to sweet talk him.

"Tenebris" Tom stated haughtily, almost immediately relaxing as he stepped inside the empty common room.  
A layer of his masks slowly peeling off and revealing his more shrewd nature.  
He gazed around, noticing that Evans had not remained in the Common room, perhaps he had already gone to bed?

___________

_Morning 7th September 1944_

Harry stirred awake at the next morning, blinking at the top of the green canopy on his bed, before he stretched languidly, noticing that he has forgotten to undress before attending his bed. He grumbled quietly, before sitting up to get ready. 

He had found a letter yesterday before he had fallen asleep, a note from Headmaster Dippet, that Hadrian didn't need to go to classes today, it seemed like the Headmaster was worried the magical school would overwhelm Harry.  
It was tempting but the thought of sitting around doing nothing held no appeal to him, well he could start researching about Time traveling but he was too curious about the classes at the moment.  
He had often enough sat around doing nothing in the cupboard of his...to be exact most of his life, it had always helped him to imagine a whole new world, where everything was...better, different.

Slowly sliding the curtains open, he noticed that his new roommates were still asleep, which was good.  
Harry wasn't a morning person and he knew he could get pretty angry if someone asked him Million questions without waiting for his answer, and exactly that he expected from his fellow roommates. 

He froze however at the edge of his bed, upon seeing the sleeping face of his long-time enemy.  
It looked like sometimes during the night Riddle's hand had came out of the curtains, pushing them slightly open and reveling his peaceful sleeping face.

'Bloody hell' Harry thought to himself, furrowing his brows.  
'How on earth did he look so peaceful?'  
'Probably dreaming about torturing people'  
Harry thought warily, squinting his eyes at the other boy as if looks would kill.

He was beginning to understand why everyone was drawn to the teenager version of Voldemort.  
Beneath his masks was a boy so rejected by society that all he wanted to do was tearing it apart, not that Harry would start feeling sympathy for the other boy but he could... understand...maybe, just a little?

Wandlessly checking the time by thinking 'Tempus' he realized he had enough time to have a long, hot shower.  
With that in mind he quietly padded over to his black trunk and gathered the other school uniform he had for the day, for once glad that Dumbledore had put his will through and had bought three uniforms.  
Harry grimaced at the sour taste on the top of his tongue at his last thought, thinking positive about the old fool really was doing a number to Harry. 

After he had picked everything up, he made his way to the showers, glad that there were only two doors in the dormitory, which meant the other one must be the bathroom door.  
The House layout wasn't all that different, though there was much more space here than there was in Gryffindor tower.

Testing the water, he stood under the hot spray and enjoyed the luxury of not having to worry about someone attacking him. Harry remember too good how it had been to shower while being on the run, if you could splashing each other fully clothed with Argumentia call a shower.  
His face grew grim as he thought about Hermione and Ron, a painful tug of his heart reminding him that he missed his best friends. 

'What they were doing?'  
He thought with an unhappy sigh, leaning his forehead against the cool shower wall.  
Hopefully they had manage to defeat them, they deserved a peaceful and happy life.

The young man forced his head away from the wall, squeezing his eyes hard as a shaky breath left his lips.  
He wouldn't cry!  
Harry had much bigger problems than missing his friends.  
He didn't know how the interactions would go between Riddle and himself, there was no way the other boy wouldn't have questions, not after finding him badly injured in front of Hogwarts.  
He already knew Dumbledore would be even more suspicious when he saw them together.

Burning anger flared through him as it was always coming back to Dumbledore.  
Damn the old man, if Dumbledore hadn't been so suspicious of Tom, treating him as if he was some sort of dark creature… it was no wonder he had gone down this path. If the old man had just bloody helped him once, Dumbledore probably knew how Riddle was being treated at the orphans, just like he had known how Harry had been by his relatives. And what had he done?  
Nothing, absolutely fucking nothing.

Quickly scrubbing his body with soap, the anger making his blood boil and he already knew skin was irritated on his neck. It always happened when he was angry.  
He took a deep breath through his nose, before he moved under the water spray again.  
The soap he had bought smelt kinda odd to Harry.  
Not a bad odd, but nothing like he was used to.  
Shampooing his hair, he was still finding it really weird that he had curls! He'd gone his entire life with…his wild, untamed bird's nest, and now he could run his fingers through his hair without being afraid of ripping strands out or get stuck in the mess .

Turning the shower off, he grabbed the towel that hung on the outside, dragging it past the curtain and began to towel off. Stepping out he quickly put his underwear on, not really comfortable with walking around naked, but then he took his time with the rest.  
Looking into the mirror, his eyes trailer over his body.  
All his scars...he didn't want anyone to see them, most importantly the scar on his forehead.  
He knew some scars he just wouldn't manage to hide, like the words Umbridge had forced him to scribe into his hand, the light pink words clearly sticking out on his pale skin. 

Clipping his cloak on, a sly grin made its way onto his face again as he looked into the mirror.  
He'd been awake all of half an hour and he'd gone through every emotion possible.  


Hadrian run his hand through his black hair, letting go again and watching how a two or maybe three? longer curls covered his scar as if they were glued to the one spot.  
He looked like a young men of the forties, at least his hair did.  
After he was done staring at his hair, he got back to the dorm, noticing the others were slowly wakening up, he quickly opened his trunk and grabbed the green bag he had bought, pushing every book he got in his hand, inside it.

He had no idea what classes he had today, but with a enlargement and feather-light spell, it would be no trouble carrying that many books around.  
He also added parchment, ink, and quills.  
He could feel their eyes already boring into him, and he suppressed the urge to rush, it would only show his fear. Swinging his bag onto his back he left the room without once looking at anyone, his gait confident.

Getting to the Great Hall had been rather tricky, he'd had to turn back three times, despite the fact he had been shown the way just yesterday.  
He made mental notes as he went along, to make sure it didn't happen again.  
Quietly slipping inside, he made his way over to the Slytherin bench, noticing only sixth and seventh-years were there; everyone else was probably still asleep or just getting up.

Sliding into his seat with no one around, his face told nothing of his emotions, at least till he heard slow but firm steps going in his direction.  
He slowly looked up from his empty plate before he turned around.

"Hadrian, my boy! It's good to see you up and about," Slughorn said standing in front of Harry, beaming at him as if he was the most exciting person he had ever seen.  
"I was informed that you wouldn't be attending classes until Monday," he added, gazing at the teen with concern in his eyes.

Harry peered at him sheepishly, before a slight smile made it's way into his face "I don't want to sit about doing nothing, Sir, I'd like to go to class… if that's okay?" he asked the wizard for permission, knowing that it would work.  
Slughorn had an inflated sense of self-worth and an ego to boot after all and he liked it when students acted like his permission was important to them.  
Harry had to admit though that Slughorn was a good wizard, just a bit blind when it came to his Slytherins...but it seemed like every Head of House was prejudiced about their house...just look at Dumbledore and his Gryffindors.

"Of course" Slughorn said, his head nodding quickly"Just know that you can go back to the common room if it gets too much, you understand?" The professor already been given an earful by the matron to make sure Hadrian didn't do too much in the first few days.

"I will, Sir," Harry told him reassuringly, a charming smile on his handsome features.

"Very well," Slughorn conceded, smiling back at Hadrian, his voice sounding proudly for whatever reason.  
"This is a map of Hogwarts, and your timetable for the term. If you have trouble, ask one of the Prefects or Head Boy to help you" he said with sudden firmness, before thumping Harry on the back little too hard, nearly causing him to not only push against the desk behind him but also to flinch.

'Oh, that had actually bloody hurt!'  
Harry had forgotten Slughorn's habit of being a little too familiar with someone new, and Harry would have to make sure to tell his new Head of House to not touch him like that again...it just made him feel anxious.  
Watching the professor leave, he couldn't help but wonder if he had already the Slug Club.

Dismissing the thought, he looked down at his timetable, starting to memorise it while he absently took a dry toast with his left hand.

> Monday: Dark Arts; Herbology(break); Charms, (Lunch) Arithmancy; Care of Magic Creatures
> 
> Tuesday: Magical Law and Finances (Break), Healing; Healing; (Lunch) Transfiguration; Potions, Ancient Runes
> 
> Wednesday: Dark Arts, Defence Against the Dark Arts; (Break), History of Magic; (Lunch) Charms ; Potions
> 
> Thursday: Transfiguration; Defence Against the Dark Arts; (Break)Herbology; (Lunch) Healing; Magical Theory
> 
> Friday: Potions; Potions; (Break)Ancient Studies; Arithmancy; (Lunch)

His timetable was pretty full nearly every day, but that didn't surprise him given the number of classes he had decided to take. He only had three classes today as it was Friday.  
The list of teachers was at the bottom for each class, a few names he was familiar with.

He had two hours Potions now.

Barely noticing the students filling the Great Hall or anyone sitting next to him digging into their own breakfasts, he pushed the dry toast between his lips before he got up.

Aware of the eyes on him, he grabbed his bag from under his seat and slung it over his shoulder, pulling the dry toast from his lips he started to walk, before leaving the Great Hall.  
He was unaware that one of the Slytherins watching him with eagle eyes.

Harry leaned against the classroom wall, with a bored face expression as he finished his toast.  
Slughorn apparently kept his classroom closed just like he did in future, Harry had noticed after he had tried to open the door with a simple 'Alohomora', which meant he might end up forced to talk to the other Slytherins.  
He knew it would be difficult, he was out of practice. Hadrian couldn't even remember the last time he'd had a genuine but still decent conversation with someone, well leaving his conversations with Hermione and Ron about their next plan. Sighing softly, he bent his leg and leant it against the wall, his bag at his feet on the floor.

His head turned swiftly when he heard the thudding of feet making their way around the corner; everyone was coming to the classroom now.  
Sighed in relief when the door jumped opened just before everyone gathered around the door, sliding in before anyone else could, he swiftly made his way to the desk to his right furthest to the back where he could keep an eye on everyone.

"Ah, Hadrian, you have your potions kit with you, I assume?" Slughorn asked as he watched the young man disappear to the last desk, turning everyone's attention onto him.

"Yes, Sir," Harry said with a slight title of his head, showing his respect to the teacher, none of his irritation showing on his face. 

"Good, good! Now, I'll show you where you get your ingredients, in just a moment," Slughorn promised with a huge smile on his young face, as he made his way back towards his own desk and flicked his wand.  
The potion they were to brew appeared in chalk on the board. Seeing the words come up he arched an eyebrow slightly, unimpressed, The Draught of Living Death.  
The potion was exceedingly easy, it required ingredients like Powdered Root of Asphodel, an Infusion of Wormwood, a Valerian root, a Sopophorous beanand a Sloth brain. He only had Powdered Root of Asphodel and the Valerian Root, the other things he'd have to get from the store cupboard.

He took out his cauldron and potion kit only, knowing he didn't need the scales for this particular potion, besides, that's what all the others had out.  
Then he removed his knife after making a show of looking around to 'see what the others were doing', nodding in satisfaction he put the rest to the side, pouring water from his wand into the cauldron ready for the next stage.  
It was a two period class, but it would only take one period for the potion to be complete, so he did idly wonder what they were going to be doing afterwards.

"Mr. Evans?" Slughorn commanded, over the now seated students, all set up for their potions class for the day.

Harry stood up and moved towards his teacher.  
Slughorn gestured towards the shelves inside, "This is the public potions supply cupboard, it's where you get the ingredients you didn't bring to Hogwarts with you. The arrangement can be a little difficult at first, but the herbs and potion ingredients are in alphabetical order unless they're needed to be in a specific area or containment," Slughorn told him with firmness in his voice, adding then after a few seconds "Retrieve your ingredients and rejoin us."

"Yes, Sir," Harry murmured moving into the cupboard, grinning in relief when he saw the arrangement was the same. It took him all of two minutes to pick up the ingredients he needed for today's potion. Nobody would think anything about the time he'd needed, after all he was 'new' to all of this.

_____________

"I must say you show extreme promise in Potions, Hadrian, the potion is one of the perfectly made ones I've ever seen, twenty points to Slytherin!" Slughorn said proudly, his chest puffing out as he looked down at the idealistic shade of pale lilac that signals the half-way stage. "Now bottle it up and put it on my desk and you'll be graded for it."

"Yes, Sir," Harry repeated monotonously, doing exactly what the professor had told him, ignoring the whisper's from other students around him at Slughorn's praise.  
Hadrian knew he was only so good in potions because of Professor Snape's potion book.  


Slughorn had spoken for over half an hour before letting them brew anything.  
He had spoken about what the potion was used to, how to brew it and how dangerous it was to use it repeatedly, reminding them that the potion was important for their N.E.W.T.s which made Harry role his eyes.

He didn't feel good, maybe he should see Madam Evelyn, she would help.  
Hopefully she'd give him a Pepper-Up potion so that his body wouldn't feel so weak anymore.  
He didn't like it.  
To be weak was to be vulnerable, and he would be damned if anyone saw him as such.

After bottling up his potion, he quickly scribbled his name on it, and began to put his things away. He wasn't in any rush to be shoved at while trying to get the bloody thing on the desk first, he wasn't thirteen years old anymore.  
Once he was packed he put the vial on the table, and began to make his way out of the potions classroom behind everyone else, not liking it to have someone walking right behind him. 

"It's interesting isn't it?" Riddle said from besides him, having slowed down to walk next to him, smirking in a very cat way.

"What is?" Harry asked with a sigh, blinking at the teen as if he didn't want to strangle him.  
He had a feeling he wouldn't like what come out of the other boy's mouth next.

Tom hummed satisfied with the attention he got from the mysterious boy, before drawing closer, all confident and powerful "They say you hadn't attended magical school before now, that you lived with a Muggle Aunt and Uncle," 

"What about it?" Harry enquired tersely, his body stiffen lightly at the dangerous undertone in Riddle's voice.

"Were they right?" Tom queried, his intense gaze boring into Harry's.  
His brown eyes were piercing through emerald once, like he would strip him layer by layer, looking right into his very soul.  
Normally people couldn't meet his eyes, and they had to look away because of the intenseness of his gaze, but not Hadrian Evans. Tom almost chuckled darkly as he saw the flash of challenge in the other boys eyes. 

"Yes," Harry drawled, his jaw set and his eyes narrowing slightly at the bigger boy in front of him.

"You are picking up things remarkably well for someone who supposedly only used magic for two days," Tom stated, narrowing his eyes at Evans as well, it seemed Nott had been right after all. The boy in front of him was presumably a filthy Mudblood. A disgrace to the Slytherin House and Salazar himself.

"Oh? How's that?" Harry asked defensively, holding his chin high as he stared back into Riddle's eyes, not moving a centimeter.

"You know spells beyond the sixth-year curriculum, and I've just watched you brew a potion without even once looking at your book or the board for direction," Tom replied somewhat smugly, his brown eyes shining like he had just found out Harry's most hidden secret.

"And?" Harry smirked deviously, his mouth shaping in a dangerous smile, eyes flashing wild, letting Tom know he couldn't care less if he knew.

"You should have more care," Tom warned darkly, stepping closer as his jaw set, his teeth crashing together.  
They were barely a foot apart now and Harry clenched his fists at the open threat from Riddle.  


"I'm the one who helped you after all, _Evans_ ,you still own me a debt" Tom's voice was usually already deep but the dangerous and warning tone made the hair on Harry's neck stand up, the Aura from the Perfect seemed magnetic, it made his skin tickle, goosebumps appearing on his arms as it whispered to him, urging him to let go and step closer.  
The magic from Riddle, dark and powerful was floating around him, making his own magic vibrate under his skin.  


Hadrian shook his head bewildered, stumbling back and turning his gaze away from the other boy, before he simply passed him.  
His heart was beating erratically against his ribcage, sweat breaking through his skin, covering his forehead as he started to run along the corridors as soon as he had walked around the next corner.  


Hadrian didn't know what had happened back there.  
It felt like Riddle's magic was going to swallow him whole, he still could feel the bussing of his own magic, rushing through his veins in attempt to break free.  


If he had turned around he may had seen Tom Riddle's raised brows, the slight gap between his pink lips and the surprised face expression, as he leaned against the wall as his legs were feeling shaky from the intensive thickness of Magic in the air, his dark eyes following Hadrian Evans.  
'Curious, indeed'


	6. An Anonym Friend And Pureblood Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys, I have a new Beta-Reader : Fandom_Nut27  
> She also has a few stories, which I can only suggest for you to read, they are really good!  
> You can find them on Inkitt, where her acc name is CNRayne, or on Wattpad (same username).  
> Aside from that, a big thanks to her for editing my chapter and suggesting many good ideas!

In frustration, he grunted as he strained to get himself back onto his feet, ignoring the fact he still felt shaky...maybe he should have stayed seated on the ground a little longer.

Hadrian was just about to leave the corridor, which led to the Hospital wing, when he felt a previously forgotten potion in his robe pocket.

Arching an eyebrow, he pulled out the vial, sniffing at it carefully and dabbed only a little onto his lip, feeling the usual rush of energy that came from drinking a Pepper-up Potion.  
After downing the potion in one go he already started to feel better or, rather, his magic did. He still felt the itching under his skin but he was sure it was nothing a good night's sleep wouldn't cure.

He later realized, when he was sitting alone on his bed, that he had in fact not only forgotten about the Potion (which he had gotten from a very concerned Madam Evelyn before he'd left the Hospital Wing) but also a small black letter.

It was a very strange letter, burned on the ends and smelling odd, a strange combination of musty old houses and decaying leaves.  
The writing itself was beautiful and alarming at the same time, the colour was a dark red... such a shade red that Harry had only ever seen it far too often smeared across his own body and even on other’s, and after he ran his fingers across the letter the smell of dried blood was impossible to ignore.  
But as soon as he had opened the letter and read the first sentence, it lit up and burned to ash… until even the remains seemed to sink into his bed, leaving nothing but white sheets. It was as if there hadn't been a letter in the first place.

Sliding his invisibility cloak around his shoulders, he began to move off his bed, a bewildered expression on his face.  
His throat was dry, stinging as he swallowed rather harshly, trying to make sense of what he had read.  
Hadrian couldn't focus on how wonderful it felt to have his cloak back, not when he had the feeling that something promising, something dark was rushing through his veins. 

He had, of course, panicked at the first sight of his cloak as it appeared suddenly on his bed after he had read the letter. One moment the bed was empty, then it was innocently laying on the bed as if it belonged there. 

The letter had only given him so much comfort.  
Three words.  
Three words and he still didn't know what was going on, who gave him the cloak of why he looked different to his old self.

Everything was so confusing.

His head started pounding, and he squeezed his eyes for a few seconds, leaning against the wall next to the steps which would bring him from the dormitories down to the common room.

The only thing that was stopping Harry from going mad was that (at least the Writer said so) no one would ever notice that the heirloom was gone, and so Harry now had his cloak to aid him without fearing discovery.  
It may seem stupid to trust someone he didn't even know but he had a feeling deep in his gut, his bones, even his very soul, that he could trust this person...whoever that may be.

His footsteps remained unhurried and unheard as he made his way out of the common room and turned towards one of the secret passages leading to the kitchen, having missed dinner as he had been up in the dormitories.  
He wasn't quite late for curfew yet, but he also didn't want anyone nosy to know that he knew where the kitchen was.  
It would look suspicious after attending Hogwarts only for two days.

>   
>  \--------------------------------
> 
> **_They won't know_ **
> 
> \--------------------------------  
> 

______________________________________

_Evening 7th September 1944_

As soon as he re-entered the dungeons, he swiftly removed his beloved cloak after making sure he was covered from prying eyes by a set of armour, which was standing next to the wall.  
He quickly slid it into his bag before he uttered the password.

The door opened and Harry made his way to the only corner not in use, it looked rather comfortable, right next to the fireplace, it definitely wouldn't be cold for him.  
Hadrian ignored the fact that all conversations had stopped as his presence became known, instead he absently took out his Potions textbook.  
Slowly, the sound returned as the people around him realised that he wasn't going to acknowledge them or any rumours about him as he settled into the comfortable leather seat.

The quicker he finished reading the chapter the better, especially since Slughorn had an eye on him, believing him to be the next greatest Potion Master to add to his collection.

Scoffing inwardly, he turned the page, stretching his sore neck and stifling a yawn as he continued to read.

"I'm sick of that Mudblood!" Avery said very loudly, evidently getting into a heated argument or debate with someone that he would assume was his roommate Lestrange, if looks were anything to go on. "She thinks she's so extremely smart!"

Harry snorted in amusement, his brows raising at the irony, whoever they were talking about probably was smarter than Avery, if not smarter than most of the wizards sitting around Riddle, acting like he was the next bloody Merlin.  
He didn't need to be able to read their minds to know that's what they were thinking, the glory hounding idiots; they were in it for the laughs and the power that came with Riddle’s successes, unfortunately his reaction wasn't as discreet as he had hoped as the group were now eyeing him - maliciously in some cases, curiously in others.

"What's your problem? Protecting your own kind and sticking up for the Mudbloods?"  
Avery snapped, not appreciating being laughed at, not by some filthy Mudblood who thought himself to better, "or are you insulted because you are one?"  
His sneer made him look ugly and Harry slowly closed his book as he returned the stare.

"Correct me if I am wrong, but the term Mudblood is reserved for those that come from…what? A non magical family? Someone with dirty blood, who doesn't have pure magic?," Harry stated, his eyebrows raised as he looked at Avery, ready to strike.  
His gaze never wavering from Avery, as he crossed his arms and folded his legs together, a picture of a person unbothered by the conversation.

"For someone who calls himself a pure blood should know that there is no such thing as non pure magic, you should also know that there is always someone magical in the bloodlines of Muggleborns, to believe they would steal it is an idiotic mistake at best, perhaps further tutoring on your part will help with that?" Harry said, his eyes challenging Avery to say something, as the rest of his body language showed that he was almost…bored with the conversation.

Avery just scowled furiously at the teen, his dark bushy brows furrowing, hating how Evans was so…so relaxed and unbothered by him.  
Everyone was scared of him, at least the younger years and those not in his circle, they all learned that he wasn't to be messed with, so what was different about Evans?

"No? Nothing to say?" Harry muttered sardonically, a smirk slowly forming on his face, a feeling of triumph leaving him almost high, "perhaps your grasp on the English language is weak at best? It's no wonder you stick to your little words and act as though everyone around you is stupid despite the fact they are in fact smarter than you. Your ego cannot take it, can it?" Hadrian continued, his lips twitching. He was enjoying this, but he knew he shouldn't push it if he didn't want someone to get hurt. 

Lucretia giggled behind her hand, unable to help herself.  
Walburga Black's lips were disappearing as she suppressed her own amusement, nudging at her to be quiet, they didn't want Avery's ire focused on them after all, but she had to admit that she hadn't known about the magical blood in every Mudblood family, she made a note to definitely check that.

It would change so much.

"Shut up, you filthy little Mudblood!" Avery stood up hissing at the teen, who was still sitting in the leather seat, furious that the bastard even dared to look smug.

"If anyone asks what you want for your Christmas might I suggest a dictionary? Again you're repeating yourself… it's entirely tedious to have a conversation with someone on repeat." Harry suggested in a bored tone, merely rolling his eyes as he opened his book again, looking down at it but his attention was still concentrated fully on Avery.

"I see you aren't denying it!" he spat, his entire face flushed red in anger.  
The feeling of embarrassment getting steadily stronger and his anger growing darker by every giggle he heard from the Slytherin's around them. "So I AM right!" he added triumphantly, even though he noticed that Evans didn't seem to care about the fact that the state of his blood was being outed.

Harry scratched his neck absently, as he looked up from the book once again.  
"Are you sure you are a Pureblood? Doesn't seem to me like it, with all that nonsense you're pontificating, I suggest to read a book about magical bloodlines" Harry said languidly leaning into his chair, rolling his shoulders as he felt them stiffen from the long sitting "but if it contents is too difficult for that pea brain of yours, think what you like."  
He knew he wasn't Muggleborn in reality, he was a half-blood and he was rather proud of that fact but he also knew that everything the Pureblood's seemed to think they knew was wrong, you just needed to know where to look. 

"STUPEFY!" Avery snarled out suddenly through gritted teeth, his wand pointed aggressively at the small teenager, not thinking of the consequences of such an action, just acting on his fuelled rage.

Harry quickly dived out of the way before the magic of the spell had even left the wand, much to the gasping astonishment of the Slytherin's who had also moved away from the oncoming duel, seventh years quickly casting containment spells to prevent any misfired or redirected spells from hitting the younger students.  
All of them were intrigued by the move he had pulled thinking that, if he had such reflexes, then it was no wonder he had survived the attack from Grindelwald's men.

"Oh I see, you're one of the ones who don't like being wrong, one of those who don't like to the accept the truth even when it's presented to you," Harry postulated, ignoring his book which was now laying on the ground, instead pulling out his wand, but not holding it in front of him yet.

"CONFRINGO!" humiliation and potent rage filled the other teenager as he heard those words, his face turning angry red.  
He'd never been more humiliated in his entire life.

Harry then held his arm outstretched in front of his chest, his wand firmly placed in his hand, making a swift hand movement and saying quietly "Protego" under his breath before watching the second spell getting stopped by his blue magical shield.

"Finished?" he queried with a raised brow.  
Hadrian was definitely warding his bed tonight with an extra layer of spells, not that he was scared but being strangled to death wasn't really something Harry would like to experience.

"Expelliarmus!" Avery cried out but Harry's wand didn't move even a centimeter.  
Harry titled his head to the side, glancing shortly down at his wand.  


'Interesting' 

"Cruc-!" roared Avery seeing nothing but red now, but Harry quickly interrupted him with a quick non-verbal Expelliarmus, possible in his rush of adrenaline.

Harry wished he could say he was surprised that Avery would attempt to use an Unforgivable, even as a student, but he really wasn't.  
But knowing the wards from Hogwarts would alarm the Headmaster by use of an Unforgivable, he just couldn't let Avery use the curse, as much as it pained him, for the price they would have to pay…well let's say it was just too high for the both of them to face.

Other than a grimace, Harry didn't outwardly react at the knowledge of almost getting hit by the infamous torturing spell.  
The wand he’d disarmed Avery of was vibrating in his hand as he glared at the other boy, voicelessly promising retribution. Unfortunately, it just infuriated Avery more that he wasn't on the floor screaming in pain as the Pureblood stomped his foot on the ground like a three year old toddler.

In any other situation Harry would have laughed.

Then, just like that, the atmosphere shifted, the air becoming charged with a different sense of apprehension.  
Riddle had suddenly stood up, falling out of his relaxed position where he had been surrounded by his other lackeys  
His brown eyes scanning over the scene in front of him, he didn't say anything as he watched Hadrian with a curious, dark gaze.  
Harry felt the itching under his skin return again, his Magic rolling and boiling under the surface of his skin.  
"How utterly stupid can you be," ignoring Riddle, Hadrian hissed, his voice full of venom as he stared at Avery with a grimace full of anger and disbelief.

The other teenager took a step back as he registered the swirling magic around Evans, hostile and threatening, it felt so familiar but at the same time it did not.  
Avery could practically feel the students around them shift uncomfortable at the open display of raw magic.  
Avery knew his last stunt had been dangerous, but he had forgotten about the wards, he had just been so angry.  
Hadrian took a deep breath through his nose, closing his eyes for a few seconds before he opened them again, his gaze more cool than wild.

"Do not provoke me. You won't win any fights you pick with people who are correct," he whispered, his voice was sharp and clear for everyone to hear before he flicked his right hand hard upwards. In a matter of seconds, Avery was sailing through the air and crashing against the next bookshelf, before the Pureblood scrambled for purchase with a groan of agony. Terrified beyond belief, all anger faded from him as he stared up into the cool eyes from Hadrian Evans.

Harry tensed his jaw in rage, his magic enveloping the common room in its entirety, pulsing around him like a protective blanket.  
Until he felt something brushing against it.  
A light shiver run through him as his body relaxed slightly at the familiar feeling magic.  
But this time it felt different, not threatening...more calming and soothing. 

"Enough," Riddle stated calmly, the order behind his words was clear'.  
Those brown eyes were piercing through Harry, as Riddle leaned against the wall next to the stairs, his body tense but still managing to look nonchalant as if he hadn't seen anything extraordinary happen.

Harry's lips twitched angrily at the command, but then decided that it was probably better to stop now, so he nodded his head slightly.

Letting his own magic settle again, even though he pondered over the fact that Riddle's magic had managed to placate his own, unsure of why, especially as it had provoked before.  
Moving back over to his abandoned seat, he started to collect his belongings before gliding up the stairs without saying another word. Only when he had disappeared from view did the Slytherin common room burst into animated conversation, everyone discussing what had just happened as well as making speculations.

One thing every Slytherin present knew for certain was that they were never, ever going to antagonise Hadrian Evans, no matter his blood status - Mudblood or Pureblood, he was powerful enough to outclass all of them... except Riddle.


	7. A new friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta Reader : @Fandom_Nut27 (thank you!)

_Morning 8th September 1944_

The day after the common room incident, Harry noticed immediately that something had changed in the way the students looked at him.  
At first, they had ignored him, whispered behind their hands and passed him several times in the corridor, trying to have a better look at the new boy, but as he was a Slytherin they did it when they thought he wasn't looking.  
Now though, now a new emotion was in the eyes of the Slytherin students looking at him.  
It was an emotion he knew well.  
Fear was such a wonderful emotion to inspire in others, although it wasn’t pleasant to feel it yourself.

As far as Harry knew, news of the fight he had with Avery had spread, but he didn't know what the general opinion of him was, but he didn't really care. He couldn't, however, help the grimace that appeared on his face every time he heard someone whispering about it.  
Honestly, he had absolutely no idea how they could be afraid of him, he had just protected himself and his beliefs, but at least it provided him with entertainment and no one seemed to provoke him anymore, which was a nice change. 

Though if Harry was honest, there was very little that would gain and keep his attention, especially people.  
They were so boring, so uninteresting, was it really any wonder he ignored most of them… and it wasn't like they would want to get to know him either, so there was that. 

It was Breakfast and the Great Hall was already half full, every second new students were moving through the heavy entrance door.

Harry was seated in his usual seat a little away from the rest of the students from the sixth year.  
He was reading a book he had taken from the library about runes when he felt someone sitting beside him, even though he didn't show it he was curious, normally nobody would sit beside him.

Cursing his curiosity, Harry lowered his book a little and looked slowly to his left.  
His eyes widening with surprise as he looked into the younger face of Sirius.  
Harry swallowed surreptitiously as his heart clenched painfully, his green eyes turning a bit darker as he looked sadly at the younger boy.

The boy seemed to be in his fifth year.  
He was a little bit taller than Hadrian (which was very aggravating for Harry, not that he would admit that out loud).  
The fifth year had shoulder long, dark black wavy hair and grey eyes, with an aristocratic face, high cheekbones and thin lips and a perfectly straight nose.  
He was quite handsome, Harry noticed, as he let his eyes roam once again over the other boy’s face.

The boy, upon noticing he had Harry’s attention, introduced himself with a smile and outstretched hand as one Orion Black (explaining his painful resemblance to his late Godfather).

Harry lifted an eyebrow, surprised that the Pureblood was talking to him, before he took the hand from who seemed to be Sirius' father and shook it firmly.  
Introduced himself seconds later, it was only polite after all, "Hadrian Evans"

Black seemed quite happy with it and, before Harry could go back to his book, he asked, "Do you mind if I sit here?"

"No," Harry told him and, cursing his curiosity again, he added with a small tilt of his head, "Although it seems rather curious that you would even want to, after all the other Slytherins haven't really welcomed me with open arms."

Black seemed uncomfortable but Harry couldn’t find it within himself to care. However, when determination flashed across the young man’s face, Harry's interest grew a bit. 

"I been watching you for a while now, I heard what happened with Avery and I have to admit I got curious about the new boy" 

"I see," Harry muttered, and he really did. Now that he thought about it, he could remember seeing Black sitting always close but never talking, he appeared to be a quiet person. 

Even so, it was rather strange that a future Death Eater chose to associate with him.  
Weren't they supposed to hate him for disrespecting a member of Riddle's club?  
Besides, he was known as a Muggleborn, and he knew that many believed the blood purity crap.  
Hadrian could see no hate in Black's eyes and it made him slightly uneasy.  
Then he saw something in the other boy’s expression, one which explained why he was there, there was a dark shadow over the grey eyes.  
The boy was lonely.

It was a feeling Harry knew all too well.  
He used to have that look in his eyes when he was at the Dursleys’, before everything changed, before he changed.  
He remembered how it was before, wanting to belong, wanting to have someone to be proud of him, hell, even someone he could talk to while being locked into the small cupboard he had to call a bedroom.  
But it didn't matter how much he hoped, it didn't matter what he did, he was always the freak to them.  
He could still perfectly remember all the times they had hurt him, all the times they humiliated him and nobody ever did anything.

He used to pray that someone would come and take him home, that someone would be his father, his mother, that someone would want him.

The other boys, who were living near them, took advantage of that and told him that he was not worthy of love, of a family. That no matter what he did he would never be good enough and nobody would ever want him, and for a little while he believed them.  
He stopped praying and he stopped hoping because, clearly, neither did any good.

But then he turned eleven, and at least some things changed.

So that was why he only nodded his head and went back to his book.  
Besides Black could be useful, he was raised in the wizarding world, he could give him information that he otherwise wouldn't have.

Orion Black appeared satisfied in just sitting and eating his lunch and Harry wasn't complaining, he appreciated the quiet and saw no need to have pointless conversations.

More towards the end of lunch Black broke the silence though.

"What are you reading? It has to be quite interesting, you practically didn't eat breakfast."

Harry looked up from his book and focused on the other boy and, as he only saw genuine curiosity, Harry answered with a friendly face expression - pleased that someone was actually interested in what he was doing. 

"I'm reading 'Advanced Runes and how to connect them'' by Shane Willis. It is rather interesting-"

Harry was going to continue talking about the book when he saw that Black's eyes were wide open, so he stopped mid-sentence and raised a brow. 

"Something the matter?" he ended up inquiring, furrowing his brows as he didn't know what he had said wrong. 

"Advanced Runes?" exclaimed the future father of Sirius, fortunately they were far away from the other Slytherins so they didn't hear, "You are studying already advanced runes? You only started to take the class! That's incredible."

Harry almost smiled when he saw the look on the boy's face, the flash of excitement in Black's eyes and the lit up face expression reminded him of his uncle Sirius. 

"I made a mistake when I bought the school books," admitted Harry, with a slight shrug of his shoulders, trying to look nonchalant. 

Orion didn't say anything for a few moments, then he chuckled and shook his head, clearly amused by Hadrian's attitude. 

"I don't know why, but that answer doesn't really surprise me."

Both went back to their lunch after that, but they seemed happier, a small smile on Harry's face as he took a bite from his meal.

However, after a few minutes, Black started sighing and after maybe the third sigh Harry couldn't ignore it anymore, turned his head again to look at Orion and lifted an eyebrow. 

Black looked, for a short moment, surprised but quickly concealed it under a blank expression, turning to let his eyes roam over the Slytherin table.  
"They haven't stopped staring since I sat here and when I catch them, they look away and start whispering with each other. It's rather irritating."

"Hmm, well, since they are apparently afraid of me, they must be wondering if you are mad," Harry remarked, highly amused but maintaining a serious tone, looking back to the book in his hands. 

Black didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then he started laughing quietly, gaining the attention of a few Slytherins that were sitting a little closer to them, as it wasn't normal for a Slytherin to show this much emotion in public. 

"Well, maybe the Black madness is taking over."

When Hadrian looked over at him, it was impossible to deny the amusement in the eyes of both boys and Orion was the first to see a true smile on Hadrian's face, and he had to admit that the other boy was quite beautiful like this. 

________________________

Harry watched the scenery, the lush green fields and trees, and birds flying overhead, but he wasn't really seeing it.  
His mind was miles away, thinking about everything that had happened since That Day, as he liked to call it.  
Of course, he had played his part.  
The part Dumbledore has expected from his little hero. It was difficult, more so now than it had ever been, although he wasn't quite sure why.  
A few months ago, everyone had been hovering around him, in awe of him after he had returned to Hogwarts to join the final battle.  
Yet once again Dumbledore has kept things from him, important things.  
The fact that Dumbledore had kept going on about Voldemort hasn't helped either, it was like Harry's whole life had been about the Dark Wizard.  
Raised just to die by the hands of his enemy, to willingly give his own life for the greater good, as Dumbledore would say.

Hogwarts had become less and less like home to him. He remembered how he had always wanted time to relax, to hold on, even if it was only for a few minutes. 

Harry sighed quietly, taking a deep breath from the cool morning air while absently placing his hands on the ground, starting to play with a few grass strands.

At Privet Drive he had been treated worse but Harry didn't want to go there, knowing the memories would swallow him like a black hole. 

Hogwarts at this time? Here, he had to watch his back from everyone and everything; he had to put on a show of being the 'The New Boy', no less playing the role of a Muggleborn.

His whole life felt like an act and he didn't know if he should be afraid of how it may end.  
Harry didn't know a lot of things, but one thing was crystal clear for him, there was a numbness in his very being reminding him every so often that he wanted to belong somewhere, to have a place he could call home and maybe even people he could depend on. 

'Home...what a strange word'  
Harry thought as he looked sorrowfully down at his hands, he'd give his wand arm to have somewhere he could call just that.

He had just wanted to be a normal boy.  
A normal, boring life without the sinking feeling of terror he always felt as the new school year had come around, knowing Voldemort would once again attack him or the Order. 

They were idiots, they didn't even know what they were fighting for, just following Dumbledore's every move and all his orders, hoping for the best.

'Just like I did'  
Harry closed his eyes tiredly as he thought back to the death of his beloved godfather.  
The fading image of his body as he passed the line between living and dead.  
The horror he had felt in that moment, overpowered by numbness as he watched him die, right before his eyes… he could still remember the emptiness, the trembling feeling of growing grief inside him, even the lingering feeling…of something being ripped out of him.  
But the wretched pain was nothing against the crestfallen feeling piercing through his heart. 

That had been the moment Harry had realized that war was something terrible, like a monster bringing nothing but pain and horror.  
But these weren't the kind of monsters that had tentacles and rotting skin, the kind that a seven-year-old might be able to wrap his mind around.  
They were monsters with human faces, suddenly storming the place, so banal you don't recognize them for what they are until it's too late.

"Hadrian?" 

He turned his head to his right side, trying to not look frightened, even though he had almost jumped out of his skin at the sudden noise hauling him from his thoughts. 

Orion Black was standing a few meters away from him, his elegant, dark brows furrowed as he stared with a troubled expression at him.

Hadrian's stomach was in knots, feeling on edge with his nerves worked up like that, but he slowly let his body relax as the other boy moved closer to him, not wanting Orion to see in the state of agitation he was in. 

"You alright? You suddenly disappeared after breakfast,” Orion stated carefully, while he slowly lowered his body to sit gracefully down on the grass, crossing his legs as he leaned back, shifting on his hands which he placed behind himself on the ground to support his weight.  
His grey eyes never leaving the boy he had only met an hour ago.

Hadrian shrugged lightly, pulling his legs up to his chest before wrapping his arms around them, attempting to make himself smaller.  
Something he had done since he was a small kid, always hoping it would keep him safe.

"I'm fine, just thinking,” he replied shortly, his distressed gaze roaming over the trees from the Forbidden Forest, not paying attention to Black, he couldn't look at the other boy.  
Not when he had just thought of Sirius. 

"A penny for your thoughts?” Orion questioned, his voice calm as he watched Hadrian calculatingly, feeling that there was something off about the new boy. 

"I was thinking about the war,” Hadrian answered honestly, his voice empty as he curled his arms just a little more tightly around himself.

Orion raised a brow at the unexpected answer, but he shouldn't be surprised after all they had been informed by Headmaster Dippet that Hadrian had been part of an attack, and the young Black knows that Grindelwald was out there, leaving the world trembling in fear.  
He decided to not say anything, not familiar enough with the new boy to know how he would react to his beliefs.

"The war… you know I don't care a damn about men who are loyal to the people who pay them, to the organisations… There are many countries in our blood, aren't there, but only one thing that connects us all,” Hadrian spoke quietly but firmly, something in his voice that made Orion listen attentively.  
Watching Hadrian's hands clench around the fabric of his black trousers, before the other boy suddenly whirled his head around, his green eyes piercing through Orion.

"Would the magical world be in such a mess if we were loyal to magic and not to countries?...what do you think Orion?"

Orion swallowed rather loudly as he tried to look away from those green eyes, but found himself unable to do so.  
He was fascinated by Hadrian's words, even if it was blunt to openly discuss political opinions, even more to do so with a stranger. 

Nevertheless, the young Black couldn't help but feel drawn to Hadrian, not only the feeling of the warm, vibrating magic surrounding the new boy but also the way Hadrian communicated and acted around others, his very being was alluring…even hypnotizing to Orion, who always had been rather sensitive to magic. 

"I think that there are, perhaps, many causes worth dying for… but, for me certainly, there are not many worth killing for,” he admitted truthfully, lowering his head slightly as he waited for a reaction from the new boy, finally able to avert his gaze.

"Yes...yes how very true,” Hadrian mused with a thoughtful expression, turning his attention away from Orion, before he moved to lay down on the grass, closing his eyes to avoid exposing them to the sun.

Orion, involuntarily, relaxed at Hadrian's words, feeling a strange sensation of pride at the soft voice from the boy, rather happy that Hadrian was open-minded and wouldn't just brush him off because he was younger.


	8. Magic

_9th September 1944_

Harry found himself falling into a routine.  
In the mornings, he would wake early, mostly eating breakfast in the kitchen and then heading to the library, toiling through the books.

Around two in the afternoon, Orion would fetch him to break for a bit of lunch, and even if the boy tried to squeeze an answer from Harry, he never got a satisfying one and silently watched the other boy go back to the library.

Harry was fairly certain that something was causing his magic to be astir.  
He clearly remembered his body starting to shiver every single time he got close to the school, and it was stronger as he came inside.  
The walls of the school literally pulsing with magic.  
He remembered the sweat breaking through the surface of his skin as he sensed the brush of familiar magic next to him in potions, dark brown eyes haunting him even at night, the tingling sensations not leaving him even hours after. 

The worst part though was that once he started noticing it, he no longer could ignore the tickling, the brushing and suddenly there was magic everywhere.  
It was there in the lights in the castle that lit up when he walked past.  
It was there when he watched the elves at work in the kitchens, every spell they used seemed to press at him, even when he wasn’t looking. 

The second time he’d run into Riddle was the worst incident, it was just like the first: the taller boy was on his way somewhere, and had magic practically crackling all around him...if crackling was the right word.  
It wasn’t like Harry could actually hear it.  
He couldn't really see it either, and though it made goosebumps race down his arms and sweat trickle down his spine if he let himself be caught off guard, he didn't exactly feel it as a physical touch either, he could control how much of his own magic could interact with the innate magic of Hogwarts and the elves' as it was different to his own and without outside influences.

Riddle's magic on the other hand...Harry couldn't control his magic around the other boy.  
His magic was different to Hogwarts', refined and influenced by something outside of Harry's control.

Always brushing lightly over Harry's skin, searching for something, but never lingering longer than a few seconds, it was like the other boy was as clueless as Harry, not having any idea what was going on with their magic.  
It was something entirely new.

Harry didn’t have words to describe it properly but when it caught him off guard, let's just say he wasn't really keen to have a repeat of his first confrontation in the dungeons with Riddle. 

It was almost as though the magic was fighting against something deep inside him, as though it was worming its way into every crevice in his body, pushing everything else aside to make room for it and filling him with the desire to get closer, to actually…let the magic inside him.

No matter how much Harry researched, it didn't seem to be something that people could do, at least no books he found mentioned something similar to this level of constant being sensitive to magic.

Harry considered asking Slughorn about it, but he remembered what had happened in his second year when everyone had found out that Harry was a parseltongue.  
They had been afraid, terrified even of him.  
Only because most people considered Parseltongue as being something dark, not something fascinating and unique.  
Harry's ignorance towards the sigma of the ability had only made it worse, as if his nonchalance towards the 'evil and dark' language was something to abhor even more.

Harry decided he would keep this to himself, at least until he figured out what was happening.  
For all he knew, it was a side effect from being thrown back in time and if someone would find that out…Harry didn't even want to start thinking about it.

Maybe it was something that was so common it wasn’t worth mentioning in the books, and Harry had simply never known that something was wrong with him, not being able to notice it.   
Either way, drawing attention to it when he didn't know what ‘it’ was seemed like an all-around terrible idea.

Besides, it wasn't as though there was anyone to tell about it. Aside from himself, the only other person he talked with seemed to be Orion Black, and that boy had no clue who Harry was, what he was capable of doing.

A heavy sigh left his lips as he stared frustrated down at the black cover of another book, his right hand moving mechanically over the soft spine, before clamping his fingers under the hard-cover and opening it up.  
Flexing his fingers again, he brushed his fingertips lightly over the white page, a soft noise filling the silence around him at the touch. 

It was probably for the best that he locked himself away in the library and read until he could barely think.

\-----  
_28th September 1944_

Soon enough, Harry lost track of the days.  
There was no difference between weekdays and weekends, and he moved through books almost mechanically, crossing them off from the list he’d amassed.  
While finishing each book gave him some small sense of accomplishment, on the whole it was disappointing.

Largely, the books Harry had devoured over the past few weeks had discussed historical attempts to understand the way various civilizations had approached time.  
Citing St Kathuon's musings as readily as it described a medieval German witches' cult that had an annual time-ending ritual involving sacrificing a lamb and drinking copious amounts of specially brewed potions until the participants were blackout drunk.  
There were several tales of things long sine lost, like the French device Harry thought sounded like a time turner, and accounts from supposed travelers who were generally seen as charlatans or insane, but no wand patterns or incantations.

At least, time was lost to Harry until Orion joined him once again, but this time he didn't force Harry to get up and eat something. 

No, this time the other boy sat down across from him, leaning back against the chair, and placing his long slender arms on the table in front of him, watching Harry through dark grey eyes.  
His gaze was intense, especially with the long black lashes covering his already breathtaking eyes, the shoulder long waves falling in his face, framing it almost neatly and making Orion look like a Greek beauty. 

“What day is today?” Orion asked him, his gaze cool but Harry could see the flash of worry in the other ones eyes, as he stared grimly at him. 

“Wednesday?” Harry set his book aside with a quiet sigh, knowing his answer sounded more like a question he raised his right brow at Orion, his voice nonchalant, not seeing the point in the other ones question. 

“It's Friday, damnit Hadrian, you are only sitting here, reading, do you even know which date it is?” Orion snapped, his pale hands clenching as his face scrunched up into an ugly scowl.  
Harry raised now both his dark brows, surprised at the open display of aggressiveness from the other boy.

“No, I don't,” he answered honestly, his voice calm as he stared into the livid eyes of Orion, his hands settling a few centimeters in front of the other boys', before he let his fingertips gently tap against the wooden surface. 

"I'm sorry," he added then, softly, his green eyes expressing a deep intensity as he stared back into Orions', giving more force to his words in his sincerity. 

Orion's eyes widened to a slight extent, clearly not having expected Hadrian to apologise.  
He opened his mouth dimly but nothing came out, so he quickly closed it again, looking dumbfounded down at the table.  
His shoulders lost the stiffness and his face crumbled into a worried expression, not managing to meet Hadrian's eyes anymore.  
Orion didn't know why he felt so ashamed of his behavior, maybe because he had been taught since he was a small child to not act on such primitive feelings, such as anger but to always keep his cool.  
Or maybe because he was genuinely worried about the other boy, it was impossible for him to hide his feelings from Hadrian.  
He just couldn't. 

"No, I'm-" Orion got interrupted by a chair scratching over the wooden floor, flinching instinctively and pressing himself back against the chair.  
Even though his heart was pounding hard against his ribcage he forced his head up, watching Hadrian from under his lashes and feeling outright dumbstruck as he could feel the undeniable and sheer amount of raw magic flooding over him, whirling around him and caressing his own darker magic. 

"It's alright…how about we go somewhere else?" Hadrian murmured mildly, as he had walked around the small table to stand next to the chair Orion was sitting in.  
Looking down at the other boy with a small smile framing his features, he moved his right hand to lightly squeeze Orion's shoulder, a wave of heat rushing through his body as he felt the magic from Black connect with his own.  
It was different to Riddle's magic, not as threatening or dangerous.  
Orion's magic was dark, but it was also warm, promising and bright, brushing over Harry's skin and whispering almost reassuringly to him. 

In that moment, Orion's magic promised him something, whispered to him as it moved with gentle pressure over Harry's skin, starting to buzz and crackle as Harry did something he never has done before.

He let go. 

________________________

_Past Midnight 29th September 1944_

Turning his head on the white pillow, he glanced at the spot where he knew the curtains to be.  
It was pitch black, which wasn't really surprising as it was probably past midnight already, but he still narrowed his eyes, attempting to see better.  
Harry couldn't seem to sleep since the incident (if you could even call it that) had happened in the library.

He knew he should have been more careful, should have pulled back but he had found himself unable to do so.  
Harry still remembered the delight on Orion's face, the absolute blissed out expression as the other boy sunk deeper into his seat, watching Harry with an almost intoxicated gaze. 

But there had been something else too, a slight pull after he had let go of his magic…after their magic had crashed together, connecting with each other and leaving him light-headed. 

Harry had barely sensed it but he could've sworn he had felt something grow lighter inside him, warmer and more peaceful.

It was hard to describe, it had felt right to Harry…like a piece he hadn't known about had been missing, but now that it was in place, he could remember its absence keenly.

He still wasn't sure how exactly he was sensing magic, but the more he focused, the more he could feel it around him.  
Breathing and pulsing, seemingly... _alive_.

It was disturbing how he never had noticed before. 

Harry took a deep breath through his nose, wiggling his feet slightly before he turned once again, this time on to his back.  
Ignoring the rustling sound of his sheets, he pulled the blanket a little higher to his mid chest.  
It wasn't cold but Harry always had liked to wrap something around him, the false sense of security calming him, no matter where he was. 

______________

_Morning 29th September 1944_

When Harry was startled awake the next morning, he wasn’t sure whether or not he had slept at all.  
Everything in the room showed in sharper relief, especially Riddle, who stood in a rapidly dissipating cloud of magic, peering darkly down at Harry. 

Of course the other boy looked like he was freshly printed out from a magazine, like how the hell could someone look so… (Harry had the urge to vomit at the thought alone) perfect at such time in the morning.  
Like come on, his hair was neatly brushed, a dark curly strand falling in his face, making the other boy look even more mysterious, as if he had put a sticking charm on it as the strand wasn't moving a centimeter even though Riddle shifted from his right to his left foot.  
Which reminded Harry that the boy had been staring at him, who the hell did that?  
Absolutely not creepy to stand at someone's bed and stare down at him while he was sleeping, nop.

“What?” He asked with an annoyed tone, turning on his side to pull the blanket a little higher, covering the few scars which covered his chest, suddenly not so comfortable with only a boxer brief covering his body.  
Harry wasn't in the mood for a pity trip, especially not from someone like Riddle.  
It was his fault in the first place that Harry got those scars. 

"We have class, Evans and as a Perfect I'll remind you that skipping class will not only cost you important time to study, but also the anger of the whole Slytherin house, I would get up if I were you." 

'Yes, totally not threatening.' Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes at Riddle's calculating voice, instinctively knowing the other Slytherin was watching him.  
Was the boy even able to develop emotions? 

"Yeah, I just...-"  
He broke off in a yawn, bringing the quilt up to cover his mouth, before he nuzzled his cheek more into the soft fabric from his pillow, not bothering that his hair was messy and standing in every direction. 

“Get up, now.”  
Riddle said now with more emphasis in his words, not seeming so calm and collected anymore as he shifted once again, drawing his brows together as he glared darkly at Harry.  
It seemed like Harry was especially good at annoying the future Dark Lord, which made him surprisingly gleeful. 

“Huh?” He just grumbled dumbfounded, his voice slurring at the edge as he was starting to fall asleep again.  
Harry slowly closed his eyes, as his eyelids were growing heavier with each passing second, his body relaxed and a quiet hum left his lips, sinking back into the warm and- 

"Evans!" 

Harry winced loudly, his body flinching violently as he moved to the side, landing with a loud thudding sound on the ground.  
Of course, instead of trying to hold himself up, he ripped his blanket with him down which didn't soften his landing since the blanket fell on top of him.  
Blinking several times after he had fallen, he pulled the blanket up over his messy hair, a loud groan leaving his lips as his brain finally caught up with everything.  
Not only with the brutality Riddle had yanked him out of his sleep, no...but also with the pain which now started to rush through his back as the adrenaline slowly ebbed up.

Oh he wanted to punch something.

"Do not…say a thing," Harry groaned, his voice sounding mortifying but he had to stop the other boy from commenting on his little action.  
He already felt humiliated enough, thank you very much. 

Harry's face was flushed red as he could clearly feel the gaze from the other boy on him.  
He could only imagine how that must have looked to Riddle, he literally has fallen down from his bed and not in a cute kind of way or in a graceful way Riddle probably would manage to pull off, no!  
Harry had straight forward grabbed his fucking blanket instead of trying to catch himself with his stupid arms or legs.

'At least I didn't fall on my face'

Merlin, he couldn't even begin to imagine how utterly embarrassing that would have been.


	9. You can never learn enough

_29th September 1944 After breakfast_

Harry sat down at the very back of the classroom, it would ensure that Dumbledore couldn't try creeping past his mental shields into his mind, and allowed him to have eyes on the entire class.  
He had no blind-spots from this position.

Tom Riddle and Avery were sitting directly in front of him, which wasn't really in Harry's favor as he could imagine a dozen things he’d rather do than stare at Riddle's head.

He notices all of the Gryffindors sitting on the opposite side, just like they did (or should he say will do?) in his time actually.  
It seems like nothing will change in that aspect any time soon.

Harry's eyes travelled over the room, sighing heavily as his gaze settled once again on Riddle. The other boy was again surrounded by 'the first generation death eaters'. They were all rather solemn in this classroom.  
So far they had been constantly excited, acting like lapdog's from what he had seen, albeit he’d tried to avoid them more often than not… still it was enough to make Harry grimace in emotional agony.

He did constantly have to remind himself that they were only sixteen and were still students, no matter what they had done thus far.

He fought the urge to roll his eyes as he started to drum his fingers on the Transfiguration book, which he had taken out of his bag as soon as he noticed Dumbledore coming through the small door in the back of the room. 

Waiting on Dumbledore to finally start speaking, who was just standing there, leaning against the table and watching them with those infuriating twinkling blue eyes, testing Harry's patience.  
He couldn't think of a worse way to spend his time, waiting on a controlling old man with a superiority complex.  
It seems like Dumbledore will never lose that flare for dramatics, it was rather annoying in Harry's opinion.

Yawning tiredly, he forced himself to sit straight up so he wouldn't be tempted to fall asleep during the lecture.

The Slytherins didn't care what you did, just as long as you didn't get caught.  
It was very different from when he was in Gryffindor, where he would have been scolded like a misbehaving toddler for going late to bed in the first place.  
He wondered what happened when you did get caught, but he wasn't willing to test that theory - he’s not got that much of a death wish.  
He would just wait to see what happened when someone else eventually did.

He'd taken the nutrition potion nine times already since the mediwitch had given it to him at the beginning of the month, mindful to take it when he was alone, he didn't want anyone being too curious about it.  
He couldn't take it more often than that. Not only would it feel as if he was experiencing a growth spurt magnified ten times, it would freaking hurt too.

"Today, class, we will learn the Flagrante curse. It is a very dangerous piece of magic and should not be handed lightly," Dumbledore spoke up and Harry titled his head slightly, forcing himself to show a nonchalant expression. 

"It is the intent behind the curse that is most important, nothing can stop it, hence why it should never be used for your amusement," Albus Dumbledore said, staring at each student in turn as he shifted his weight on his feet before taking a step forward. 

"Now, this particular curse causes objects to emit a searing heat when touched, which would be very painful, this is why this curse is so dangerous and its use is regulated by the Ministry."

Hands immediately rose in the air, mostly from the Gryffindor side.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Potter?" The old man said, gesturing with his hand for the student to speak up. 

Harry had to stop himself from jerking, his green eyes moved towards where Dumbledore had pointed.  
As far as he knew, his father had been born late in his grandparent's life, although he wasn't exactly sure how they'd died, but he remembers someone mentioning Dragon Pox.  
How can that be true, if his grandfather was in school now?  
Harry mentally calculated how old he would be when James was born, and found himself baffled. They hadn't been that old, but he had to remind himself most partners had children straight away.  
Perhaps they had been trying for years and the story got exaggerated, as if they had been trying for decades as opposed to how long it really had been.

"Will anyone know if an object is cursed?" the Gryffindor student asked eagerly, the messy raven hair standing in all directions, reminding Harry of his own… well reminded him of how it used to be at least. 

"Not by looking at it, but any detection spells will uncover the fact that it is cursed, and higher level detection spells will also reveal the name of the curse," Albus explained smiling at him, the corner of his lips highly raised, pulling Harry out of his thoughts from his grandfather. 

"Now, watch my wand movements closely and listen to the incantation," Albus said sternly, "Flagrante!" turning his wand in a tight counter-clockwise circle as he pointed the tip of his wand at the dark detector on his desk, which lit up in a bright warm orange for a short second, before it dissipated.  
Seeming like nothing had happened. 

Harry raised his hand, his shirt rustling quietly with the movement. 

"Yes, Mr. Evans?" Albus said as he turned his attention toward him, with a smaller smile (more of a grimace if Harry really thought about it) than he had when answering his 'to be grandfather', Harry noted. 

"Does it work on everything?" Harry asked, slightly curious even though he noticed the lack of enthusiasm on the teacher's face. 

At least McGonagall didn't actually favour the Gryffindors and outright hate Slytherins on principle. He was getting more and more annoyed at Dumbledore each passing day he was in his company. The prejudice wasn't too bad right now, but he knew it would only get worse…probably due to the fact they somehow found out that Voldemort himself came from Slytherin.

"No," Albus replied, his eyes twinkling just a little as he stared down at Harry from his table, like he had just said the funniest thing in the world.  
"It doesn't work on living things," Dumbledore continued, obviously amused by Harry's question, which made him furrow his brows. 

Harry tightened his jaw, contemplating keeping his temper in check before he straightened his spine,  
"I had meant, Professor, if the spell works on all materials or even if it were more potent on certain materials,such as metals for example." Harry's eyes narrowed barely as he stared at Dumbledore, his green eyes seemingly lighter, crackling with energy.

"Why would you think I meant to use such a curse on a living being?" Externally, Harry's face was set in a mask of confused anger, like he didn't understand why Dumbledore would even suggest such-like thing. 

Dumbledore blinked, staring at Harry but not moving a centimeter.  
It was disturbing how the man was looking at him, a mix of annoyance and disturbance.

Harry watched the Professor, his face going slack under the source of distress Dumbledore seemed to be in as he noticed with amusement how the future Headmaster opened his mouth before closing it again. 

It seemed like Dumbledore wasn't used to getting questioned. 

Harry averted his eyes from the still standing teacher figure and shuffled his feets under the table, shifting his weight back to lean against the backrest. 

The noise of someone clearing his throat made him look up again and he was genuinely surprised to see Dumbledore looking kinda consternated.

"I'm sorry Hadrian, that was by no means what I've meant" 

Harry forced himself to nod accepting as he didn't like the looks the other students gave him, even Riddle had turned slightly in his chair.  
By no means enough to openly show his interest but Harry knew the other boy far better than any of his lap dogs. 

He didn't even want to imagine what Riddle would do with such a curse. 

But the curse reminded him of the Horcrux in the LeStrange's vault...which had him thinking about Gringotts. 

Furrowing his brows he turned his attention down to gaze at his book, not listening to Dumbledore, who tried to continue with his lesson like nothing had happened. 

He would definitely need to go to Gringotts soon.  
Not only were some classes boring but he also needed to buy some things.  
It was probably smart to go the day the students went to Hogsmeade.  
That way he would be less likely to be caught, although it seemed as though he could go and the Slytherins would have his back just because he was one of them.

A novel experience.

Harry snorted quietly at the thought, letting his eyes trail from his book up to Riddle, as he noticed the other boy's head moving slightly to the side as if he had heard him. 

__

_Creepy_

He shook his head slightly, turning his attention away from the future Dark Lord to stare at his blank parchment.

If it was the same here as it was in the future, then there would be a Hogsmeade trip within the next fortnight, maybe three weeks. 

"Mr. Evans, when in my classroom I demand that you do your assigned tasks and in a timely manner, five points from Slytherin!" Dumbledore’s loud voice interrupted his planning, wranching him brutally out of his thoughts. He jerked his head up, slowly becoming more aware, his lip curled very subtly but he managed to keep the scowl back.  
Looking at Dumbledore, he let his eyes quickly roam over him, he really was looking annoyed. Dumbledore's face was slightly red from anger, his hands were clenched, turning his knuckles white and he had the face expression which every teacher had when they were scolding a child. 

Harry's gaze moved from him around the classroom, arching an eyebrow when he saw that nobody had yet to even begin to practice. Nose twitching, he slowly took his wand. 

Hogwarts was more advanced in this time, this spell was a seventh year one he had learned from Hermione, he remembered.  
Which showed how much Hogwarts had dropped back with Dumbledore as Headmaster. 

He moved his wand a little too fast as he said the spell quietly, furrowing his brows in false confusion before trying it a bit slower.

Harry knew it would only draw attention if he would get it right by the first try and even if he wanted nothing but show Dumbledore that he was capable of doing magic, he knew it was more important to keep his cover. 

"Very well done," Albus Dumbledore said honestly surprised, his back straightening as he charmed a small piece of paper to fly on top of his coin, and watching as it immediately burnt to ash.

"Ten points to Slytherin."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, managing to actually sound genuine as he titled his head slightly. From the corner of his eyes he saw the Slytherins looking at him, torn between being impressed and worried as they glanced between him and Tom Riddle. 

Hmm, he would need to be careful; he didn't actually want to have a furious Tom Riddle on his hands.

Perhaps he had been a bit too hasty in revealing his family history, there was no way Tom Riddle would let it rest, he would want to know the real story ― real history, not that he'd ever figure it out of course, but still. 

\----------------

_29th September 1944 Afternoon_

Harry set down the wheelbarrow and scratched his fingers through the hair at the back of his head.  
He really was not in the right frame of mind for this.

“It’s seriously not that complicated,” Augustus Rookwood was saying, for what felt like the one hundredth time, “when you’re done chopping, you put it in one of the stacks, check the code, and write it down here,” the other boy repeated again, jabbing an impatient finger at the chart he had posted on the wall.  
The last time Harry had been here in the woodshed, things had seemed a lot simpler.  
He had underestimated how much could change in a lifetime, apparently.

"I get that, it’s just—" Harry stared perplexedly around at the shelves in front of him and along the opposite wooden wall, deep scratches covering it. But that wasn't the only thing, the whole shed looked different.

Last he had checked there was kindling, chopped logs, and unchopped. 

Simple. 

But now there were rows of shelving, labeled meticulously with numbers and letters and apparently some kind of ‘system’ that would make sure they could always find the driest wood and make sure the old stuff got used first.  
This would apparently make all of their lives a whole lot easier, at least that's what Slughorn said.

“If you get it, why didn’t you write anything?”

Harry sighed quietly as he listened to Rookwood, not even looking up as he once again let his eyes roam over the shelves. 

It didn’t feel easier to Harry. 

“It’s not like you're writing the bloody N.E.W.Ts, New Boy,” Rookwood said, his frustration obviously starting to get the better of him, “nobody’s asking you to map the whole thing out in your brain, it’s just a simple two-digit—“

Harry's whole body straightened up, ready to come back with a retort that was probably going to lead to an argument, but the other student had already trailed off.  
His mouth was hanging open, as he gazed in surprise at something by the door of the shed.

Harry furrowed his brows before turning around. The afternoon sun was streaming in the door, lighting up the person standing in the doorway. Narrowing his eyes, Harry recognized the familiar silhouette to be cast by none other than Walburga. She had one hip leaned casually against the woodshed’s door-frame like she had been standing there a few minutes.

Her black hair was neatly tight back into a ponytail, the strands slightly curled at the end.  
Her whole body language showed confidence and, bloody hell, Harry had to admit she looked gorgeous.  
Even though he still couldn't quite understand why the skirts were so long in this time period. It’s not that he wanted them any shorter, but wasn't that uncomfortable? How could you run in them?

Harry's frown deepened as his green eyes trailer over the girl's black skirt, which reached to a point below her knees, about ¼ down her shins.  
“Good afternoon gentlemen,” she greeted them, flashing Rookwood a charming smile wider than Harry was used to seeing from her, “I need to borrow Evans for a second, if that's alright?”

“Yea...Whatever,” Rookwood's slightly slack expression gave way to a scowl as he looked shortly at Harry, “he’s no help anyway. I’m gonna have to re-stack all of this…”

“Great,thank you” she said brightly (interrupting what was surely going to be a long rant about Harry’s uselessness), elegantly stepping away from the door frame and pulling Harry out of his thoughts on the logic behind skirts, “come along, Evans.”

Harry wasn’t sure where she was taking him, but he was grateful to step out of the dankness of the shed into the sun and the breeze, and away from the brown haired male before the two of them got into it, not that he would admit that out loud. 

It seems like Rookwood's temper was short at the best of times, but he was obviously proud of his new ‘system’ and Harry’s mind simply wasn’t up to taking in anything new today. 

Walburga didn’t speak right away. 

They passed some Hufflepuff's at the chopping blocks, which were moving logs from one pile to another. Some of them were discussing how to sort them. He could hear one boy claiming to be sorting them by size, but Harry suspected it was just an excuse to avoid getting down to the work of actually splitting them as the teen was merely sitting on a bench in front of one pile.

"Who are you Evans?" 

The light but melodic voice of Walburga pulled him out of his thoughts.  
His eyes snapping to the girl who walked next to him, he could feel his rapid beating heart, pulsing in his ears as he locked eyes with her.

_What did she just say?_


End file.
